Philadelphia becoming shale energy hub is no slam dunk

The Mariner East Pipeline
Boosters of an emerging
movement to develop Philadelphia as an energy hub were cautioned Tuesday that
they need to do more to sell a skeptical public, Andrew Maykuth writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Energy
consultants told a gathering of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
that public opposition may be the biggest obstacle to advancing the dream of a
Delaware River industrial revival tied to the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom.

“This
industry has not done a good job with public interface and informing the public
about the nature of the projects coming through their communities,” said
Andrew S. Levine, the cochair of the environment and energy practice at the law
firm of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young L.L.P.

“Julie Ross, a managing partner of Environmental Resources Management’s
Mid-Atlantic business unit in Philadelphia, told the group that “improper,
inappropriate” handling of key constituencies can impede infrastructure
projects.”
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Tocks Island behind it, Del. Water Gap looks to future

With the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area less than three months away, park Superintendent John Donahue said the time has come “to move ahead from what didn’t happen, to what we would like to see happen.”
The New Jersey Herald‘s Bruce A. Scruton reports:

Part of that is the still-evolving Vision 2030 plan, a 14-page document that looks at future needs, projects and goals for the 70,000-acre recreation area, which stretches about 40 miles along the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania and annually is among the 10 most-visited units of the National Park Service.

The plan, which is likely to be fully released for public comment in early January, calls for projects including a new park headquarters building, completion of a loop road tying both sides of the river together, a “corporate identity” for the park, and getting neighboring towns and the two states involved in a range of projects and collaborations.

The plan also brings forward the idea of turning the recreation area into a designated national park and preserve, and being the center of a corridor of land, largely undeveloped, from New York, through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.

The corridor would include federal, state and locally owned open space for wildlife to freely traverse and wetlands preservation.

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NJ Senate panel withholds vote on Gov’s Pinelands picks

                                                                                                      Pinelands lake – Photo: Georgian.edu
The New Jersey Senate’s Judiciary Committee yesterday held off action on two nominees to
the Pinelands Commission whose appointment conservationists feared would tip the balance of the agency to support a controversial 22-mile natural gas pipeline through the heart of the preserve.
NJ Spotlight‘s Tom Johnson reports:

At a hearing where senators repeatedly questioned the nominees about their views on the project, few specific answers were forthcoming on how they stood on the proposal, which was blocked by the Pinelands Commission in a vote this past January.

The nominations are viewed as important because the nominees would replace two commissioners who voted to block the pipeline, which also sparked opposition from four former governors — Democrats Brendan Byrne and Jim Florio and Republicans Tom Kean and Christie Whitman.

Related energy and environmental news:  

Christie nominees to Pinelands panel held amid pipeline controversy Senate forgoes vote on Pinelands panel nominees

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NJ Senate panel withholds vote on Gov’s Pinelands picks Read More »

Cancer awareness drill bits stir up a pink stink


Sandy Bauers, the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s GreenSpace columnist on Sunday wrote:

Just when you were sure the world couldn’t possibly get any pinker during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here’s the latest: a Texas company that is a leading provider of gas and oil-field services is painting 1,000 of its drill bits that signature shade of pink and sending them worldwide.

The bits – bigger than a gallon paint bucket – will arrive in pink boxes with informational pamphlets.

The company, Baker Hughes Inc., also will give the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation a $100,000 check at the NFL’s final "pink-out" game Oct. 26 in Pittsburgh.

Jeanne Rizzo, president of the nonprofit Breast Cancer Fund, is all but reaching for the pink Pepto Bismol.

She figured she had ceased being amazed "by the willingness of companies to market themselves through this tragic disease."

Indeed, she originally thought the campaign, "Doing Our Bit for the Cure," was a joke. "I’m thinking it can’t be true," she said. "It can’t be that bad."

Her organization, which advocates for moving "Beyond Pink" – they consider the awareness battle already won – and toward a focus on environmental causes and prevention, has called the campaign "perverse."

Is the pink drill bits campaign perverse?  Click the tiny ‘comments’ line below and tell us what you think.


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NJ recyclers out to capture your smelly trash–food waste

                                                                  [If the video above does not open, click here]

Recyclers in New Jersey, the first state in the U.S. to mandate the recycling of newspapers, glass bottles, metal cans, and certain plastics, wants to go back to the future and re-capture material in your trash can that once fattened tens of thousands of Garden State pigs–food waste.

ANJR (Association of New Jersey Recyclers) which has county and municipal recycling coordinators and private recycling business among its members, is proposing a change to the state’s groundbreaking recycling law that would encourage the recycling of  food waste from large generators–like food processing companies, supermarkets, and universities.

It won’t affect your household today but, if enacted, ANJR believes the law would encourage private companies to recognize the business opportunity and build plants in the state. At least one already is under construction in Gloucester City and others are seeking DEP permit approvals..

Former NJDEP Chief of Staff Gary Sondermeyer, who became vice president of operations at Bayshore Recycling after retiring from government service, explains why ANJR believes the change would not only benefit the environment but also generate new business in the state and cut costs that large food-waste generators now pay for waste disposal.

Watch the video and tell us what you think of the idea by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link at the bottom of this post.

[Disclosure: Our sister company, Brill Public Affairs, provides legislative counsel to ANJR] Related environmental news stories:
New regulation requires grocers, others to better manage food waste – Milford Daily News
Massachusetts implements food-waste ban – WCVB Boston 
University awarded for reducing food waste – UTA The Shorthorn

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Tiny Piping Plover holding up big beach project in NY

Piping Plover chick whose species is holding up a beach replenishment on Fire Island
BAY SHORE, N.Y. — A court fight over a protected bird called the piping plover is holding up a $207 million plan to replenish the sand along a 19-mile stretch of New York’s Fire Island , the Associated Press reports .
"The small, sparrow-like bird that lives on the island is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and, elsewhere in the country, is classified as endangered.
"Besides arguing that the bird’s habitat is in jeopardy, critics say the project would be a huge waste of money.
"Elected officials have decried the delay, saying human lives are in danger if a repeat of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy strikes the region and work is not completed to bulk up Fire Island as a barrier for heavily populated parts of Long Island.
"During the storm, dunes as high as 20 feet were credited with absorbing the brunt of Sandy’s fury and preventing wider damage. Fire Island is a long, thin barrier island that runs parallel to the south shore of Long Island.
"A federal court conference on the dispute was held Wednesday in Central Islip. The judge refused to lift a temporary restraining order halting the Army Corps of Engineers project."
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Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/10/07/3284828/fight-over-piping-plover-halts.html#storylink=cpy

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