+ Diaries Of The Diabolical

Registration is now open for the 2022 Watershed Congress to be held in-person and online at the Montgomery County Community College campus in Pottstown on October 22. The Watershed Congress is an annual event that seeks to advance the best available information and techniques for protecting and restoring watersheds.  The focus on networking across disciplines means that the Watershed Congress melds science, policy, and practical applications into one program. As a result, the annual Watershed Congress is a highly anticipated event for people interested in understanding, protecting, and restoring their local streams. Join the Congress as environmental leaders in the Southeast region present and in depth look at the promise of the federal Clean Water Act, the effectiveness of its implementation to date, what it has meant for our communities, and the future of ongoing efforts and advocacy to secure truly fishable and swimmable waters. To register and for more information, visit the 2022

The Department of Environmental Protection issued notices of violation to conventional oil and gas companies for abandoning 55 wells without plugging them during September alone, according to DEP’s Oil and Gas Program Compliance Database . That brings the total number of NOVs issued by DEP for abandoning wells without plugging them in the Third Quarter of 2022 to 163 conventional wells and three unconventional shale gas wells. That’s more NOVs issued for abandoning conventional wells than in the first six months of 2022-- 163 from July through September versus 159 from January through June. Read more here .  So far in 2022 a total of 322 notices of violation were issued for conventional wells and 32 for unconventional shale gas wells for abandoning without plugging them for a total of 354 wells. And these were only the wells DEP inspectors caught companies abandoning during their regular inspections. Every oil and gas well abandoned by the oil and gas industry m

PA Interfaith Power and Light will hold its annual conference on November 13 with a focus on Environmental Justice and Human Resilience at in-person workshops and virtually from 1:00 to 4:15 p.m.. The Conference will include both a virtual keynote and response panel session, along with two, in-person workshops at four locations-- Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Scranton and Philadelphia. Dr. Joylette Portlock , Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh, will be the Keynote Speaker.  Genevieve LaMarr LeMee , City of Philadelphia, Office of Sustainability, Senior Advisor on Environmental Justice, and Katie Rut h, Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake- Lancaster, Outreach Coordinator will join participants to respond to Dr. Portlock’s address in the first hour.  The second and third hour will be in-person at the workshop locations.  Details will follow. Click Here to register and for more information .  For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and more, visit the PA Interfa

An October 5 public meeting in Canonsburg, Washington County offered residents an opportunity to learn more about a set of research studies titled the PA Health and Environment Studies now being conducted by the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health.  The event was planned and presented by the Center for Coalfield Justice , the Environmental Health Project , FracTracker Alliance , the Mountain Watershed Association , and Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania .   The studies are exploring potential health impacts of the shale gas industry on residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania, including potential connections between this heavy industry and a spike in childhood cancers in the region.  The PA Health and Environment studies are ongoing, and results were not shared at this meeting.  Persons who formerly participated as members of the studies’ External Advisory Board and who provided feedback to the study architects discussed the studies at the Canonsburg meetin