+ Diaries Of The Diabolical

On October 6, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it has assessed and collected a $147,250 civil penalty from Rice Drilling B LLC for erosion and sedimentation violations that were documented in 2019 and 2020 at Rice’s Mac well site in Whitely Township, Greene County. According to DEP’s eFACT database , a DEP inspection report on January 9, 2019 found Rice failed to implement post construction management and erosion and sedimentation best management practices (BMPs) in accordance with its permit for constructing and maintaining the well site.  The violations continued as noted in DEP inspection reports on February 27, 2019 and March 11, 2020 . As a result, three land slides developed at the well site causing accelerated erosion and soil to go into three separate rain gardens.  Rice attempted to make repairs but did not fully remediate the issue nor did it fully implement erosion and sedimentation BMPs, resulting in the development of a fourth slide allowing sediment

On October 4, Pittsburgh-based UPMC announced they intend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% within the next eight years across its footprint. The reductions are one component of the recently signed Health Care Sector Climate Pledge , an initiative led by the White House and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.  The pledge demonstrates UPMC’s continued commitment to lowering emissions and building more climate resilient infrastructure.  Also, by committing to the White House initiative, it is UPMC’s goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Meeting these environmental milestones will be met under the guidance of John Krolicki, vice president, Facilities and Support Services, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and UPMC Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Michael Boninger, president, UPMC Innovative Homecare Solutions.  Krolicki and Boninger have assumed the roles of co-chief sustainability officers and will lead a team to create a comprehensive strategy to achieve UPMC’s envi

DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council is scheduled to meet on October 18 to take a deeper dive into Pennsylvania’s Municipal Recycling Program and talk about better ways to manage electronics waste. The Council will also hear an update on agency activities by Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh. A copy of DEP’s written report to Council on agency activities is also available. Municipal Recycling Program Larry Holley, Recycling Program Manager for DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management, will be presenting a detailed overview of the Municipal Recycling Program along with recommendations for expanding state efforts to reduce waste. As Ali Tarquino Morris, Director of DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management noted in her presentation to Council on September 20, the trends in waste generation and recycling have been going in the wrong direction. She reported the overall amount of waste generated in Pennsylvania has increased 8.3 percent between 2015 and 2021-- from 14.3 million tons to 15.6 million tons. In

The Schuylkill River Greenways and their partners recently held a special event at Riverfront Park in Pottstown, Montgomery County to announce the award of $362,756 in Schuylkill River Restoration Fund Grants. The day also featured a bus tour to several local project sites that were previous SRRF awardees. This year's eight projects are located in Berks, Chester and Lehigh counties and Philadelphia and will address stormwater runoff and/or agricultural pollution and one land acquisition project for a new urban open space. The projects included-- -- Berks County Conservation District – Pine Creek Project - $20,756: The Berks County Conservation District and Pine Creek Valley Watershed Associations will work to stabilize streambank segments of Pine Creek, an Exceptional Value (EV) stream in the Schuylkill Highlands. The project will incorporate bio-engineering techniques and local materials to rehabilitate severely eroded streambanks damaged by sequential storm even