Annual Forum Focus: Conservation of the Delaware River

The Cape May Herald reports:
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, led by New Jersey Audubon and in partnership with National Wildlife Federation, will hold the sixth annual Delaware River Watershed Forum at the Grand Hotel Sept. 25-26, in Cape May. Register
According to a release, about 250 people are expected to attend the two-day event, which will provide a platform to share information and learn about a variety of efforts underway to protect the Delaware River Watershed. Annually the forum moves to another location within the basin. Last year’s forum took place in the Pocono Mountains.
The watershed is a four-state region that provides drinking water to over 15 million people (including New York City and Philadelphia), supports $25 billion in annual economic activity, and sustains valuable habitats for unique species like the Atlantic sturgeon and American horseshoe crab.
For other great events check out Enviro-Events Calendar
Speakers at the forum will include Wendi Weber, northeast regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Shawn Garvin, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Debbie Mans, deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; and keynote speaker Tim Palmer, the author and photographer of 26 books about rivers, the environment, and adventure travel.
The Forum brings together organizations and individuals spanning the four watershed states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York, allowing for collaboration and providing capacity-building and outreach tools for conservation.
This year attendees will celebrate March’s historical win when $5 million in dedicated federal funds was appropriated for the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, which will provide grants and technical assistance to on-the-ground projects that address issues facing the watershed.
The forum will also focus on how to mobilize around important issues and policies that impact the watershed to ensure a healthy river basin for future generations.
The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed is a network of 131 organizations that unites nongovernmental organizations working throughout the four states of the watershed to share information and coordinate efforts and advocacy to promote a healthy Delaware River Basin. 

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Susquehanna riverkeeper trains retriever to detect sewage

Susquehanna, the dog training to sniff out sewage in the Susquehanna River, has some fun playing fetch in the water recently at the Susquehanna State Park in Williamsport. Cara Morningstar photo































Pat Crossley reports for the (Williamsport) Sun-Gazette:

Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Carol Parenzan uses many resources to aid her in patrolling the Susquehanna River watershed, but only one has a furry body and a nose that is being trained to sniff out the presence of raw sewage in the water.

Little Susquehanna, or “Sussey” as Parenzan affectionately calls him, is 3 years old this month. He is a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, an unusual breed she chose for two reasons.
“There are just a handful of dogs trained to do sewage, and he’s probably the only Nova Scotia duck toller right now being trained to do that,” Parenzan said.
One reason she chose the breed is that they are water dogs. In fact, Sussey has webbed feet.
“He swims like a little fish out there. He loves water,” Parenzan said.
She also selected him because he’s an unusual breed.
“When people see him, they say, ‘Wow what is that?’ Then I go through the story,” she said.
Parenzan said it opens up a conversation and she can explain why he has that particular name and the work he does for her and the environment.
“He was selected purposely to be a story,” she said.
Duck tollers are hunting dogs, she noted, so his sense of smell is intense. Although he is her pet, Sussey also is the official conservation canine for the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper.
“Dogs are trained to respond to a certain scent, whether it’s drugs or bed bugs, diabetes or cancer. His scent that he’s being trained to respond to is raw sewage. I actually go to the sewage treatment plant once a week and get it. Most people want to get rid of it there; I go get it and bring it home,”Parenzan said, laughing.
Although residents may like to think area waterways are free of sewage, Parenzan
cautioned that may not be the case, because there still are combined sewer overflow systems in use.
Right now, a move is underway to separate sewage and stormwater systems. In the past they have been combined, Parenzan said.
When a combined flow goes toward the sewage treatment plant, if it is under a certain level, it goes to the sewage treatment plant to get treated whether it is wastewater or stormwater. In this system, as it’s going underground, there’s a weir and as the water is coming down it comes up to the weir and if it’s below the top of the weir it goes to the treatment plant.
A problem arises when there is a storm event and the water coming into the system spills over the weir. Then wastewater and stormwater will both go into the river.
“But, there is also the issue of illegal connections, people who don’t want to pay for wastewater treatment who will illegally redirect their wastewater into the stormwater system” through catch basins, or storm drains, she said.
“(Sussey will) be able to detect that. He’ll be able to go by those storm drains and if there’s a scent of sewage, he’ll alert me,” Parenzan said. “We’ll be able to pop manholes that should just be stormwater going through and if there’s sewage in there, we’ll be able to detect that as well.”
Once the sewage reaches the river, Sussey still will be able to sniff it out, even though the river covers a large area.

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‘Hand in the cookie jar’ political consultant sentenced to four years in prison for her role in Watershed fraud

Karen Yi reports for NJ.com:

A former political consultant in Essex County was sentenced to four years in federal prison Tuesday for her role in defrauding the now-defunct nonprofit in charge of treating water for parts of northern New Jersey. 
Dianthe Martinez-Brooks, 48, of West Orange, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, admitting she submitted bloated invoices to the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp. for work that was never performed and gave the money as kickbacks to top officials at the agency. 
“This is probably one of the worst days of my life,” Martinez-Brooks said before U.S. District Court Judge Jose Linares, as she wiped tears away with a tissue. 
“I’ve spent my life helping people stay out of trouble yet I find myself standing here … I’m sorry that I find myself before you today,” she said. 
Her sentencing Tuesday marks the latest in the corruption case against a roster of officials and consultants at the watershed corporation, who have been sentenced or charged in a million-dollar scheme that ultimately sunk the agency. 
Federal prosecutors said Martinez-Brooks was part of the inner circle at the watershed, serving as an advisor through her political consulting company, DMart127 LLC. Between May 2011 and March 2013, she recruited an unnamed relative of hers and West Orange businessman Kevin Gleaton to do work that was never performed. Altogether, she secured $226,666 in phony contracts — including money she paid out to herself.
Martinez-Brooks’ company received $131,000, of which only $43,000 was for work she did, prosecutors said. The rest was kicked back to the former director of the watershed, Linda Watkins Brashear, and Donald Bernard Sr., special projects manager for the watershed. Both are in prison. 
“This kind of corruption can’t be allowed to exist and can’t be allowed to permeate in the city of Newark,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacques Pierre said in court. He said Martinez-Brooks played a role in bringing the watershed “down to its knees.”
The watershed corporation dissolved in 2013 and filed for bankruptcy. 
Martinez-Brooks is the eighth person to be sentenced in the scheme; a former Newark police officer, Janell Robinson, of Newark, was indicted in March. Her case is still pending. 

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NJ educates consumers on how to reduce food waste

Raven Sanatana reports for NJTV News:

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 133 billion tons of food is wasted every year. The USDA says Americans throw away more than 20 pounds of food per person every month, and it’s estimated that on average an American throws away 40 percent of fresh fish, 23 percent of eggs and 20 percent of milk.
“It’s not in anyone’s interest to buy $100 worth of groceries at the grocery store, eat $75 worth of it and then throw the rest away,” said Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert.

In 2017, New Jersey passed a law establishing a food waste reduction goal of 50 percent by 2030. The law requires the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a plan with public input to accomplish the goal.


“We know that 11 percent of New Jersey population is food insecure,” said Scott Brubaker, deputy director for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “And not only is the food wasted, but all the resources that went into producing that food.”
As part of the DEP’s effort to address climate change, the agency co-hosted a workshop for the restaurant industry at Princeton University to introduce ways they can become more sustainable. The DEP says part of the problem is that consumers are confused about food labels and have unrealistic ideas about how long food will last.
“Most of those labels have nothing to do with the safety to eat that food there. It’s simply the manufacturer’s statement of when that food is best purchased by,” said Brubaker. “So people end up throwing out perfectly good food.”

Read the full story


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NJ trying again on plan to recycle foreclosed homes into affordable housing. NJ Builders Association likes the idea

A Senate committee has advanced a measure to give New Jersey towns double credits toward their obligation to ensure adequate housing if they buy foreclosed residential properties, then convert them into affordable housing. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)

A Senate committee has advanced a measure to give New Jersey towns double credits toward their obligation to ensure adequate housing if they buy foreclosed residential properties, then convert them into affordable housing. (David J. Phillip/AP Photo)
Phil Gregory reports for WHYY:
New Jersey lawmakers are trying again on legislation to help increase the state’s stock of affordable housing after former Gov. Chris Christie vetoed similar legislation three times.
A Senate committee has advanced a measure to give towns double credits toward their obligation to ensure adequate housing if they buy foreclosed residential properties, then convert them into affordable housing.
It would be a creative solution to a vexing problem, said Staci Berger with the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
“We have homes that have no people in them, and we have an enormous housing crisis of affordability. We simply do not have enough homes that people can afford,” she said. “So, taking places that don’t have people in them — and turning them into places than can have people in them — doesn’t seem like rocket science. It should be a no-brainer.”
Affordable housing activists say the plan would be a step forward in the state’s slow recovery from the foreclosure crisis. The continuing lag is hurting New Jersey’s economy.
The bill is also good public policy, said Jeff Kolakowski with the New Jersey Builders Association.

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Nine local governments get $100,000 grants for innovation

Marissa Luca reports for the Atlantic City Press:

Atlantic City, Atlantic County, and Bridgeton are among nine local-government bodies each receiving $100,000 from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in an effort to promote innovative projects across the state, according to a press release.
The money is part of the Innovation Challenge, which offers communities a chance to compete for planning awards, the EDA said in a statement. Each town or county’s project focuses heavily on technology.

Atlantic
City’s money will go toward creating a Center for Marine & Environmental
Science on Bader Field, Atlantic County’s toward an Atlantic County Aviation
and Technical Academy and Bridgeton’s toward creating a food-technology hub.


“Communities across New Jersey responded to this challenge with a clear commitment to spurring innovation in their local ecosystems,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in the statement. “From the installation of a high-speed 5G fiber network to the creation of a collaborative research-driven incubator and maker’s campus, these plans will help further New Jersey’s ability to compete and win in the 21st-century economy.”

Click here for full story, including individual project details



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