The New York Horseshoe Crab Monitoring Network will be kicking off the 2025 Horseshoe Crab Spawning Survey on May 10, 2025. This survey takes place around the nighttime high tides during the full and new moons in May and June. Thirty sites are monitored throughout the marine district. During each survey night, participants help count and tag horseshoe crabs and can observe horseshoe crabs spawning on our beaches. If you are interested in participating, visit the Horseshoe Crab Monitoring Network website to find out how to get involved!
Summer Flounder Minimum Size: 19″ / 19.5″ Possession Limit: 3 Fish Season: May 4 – Aug. 1 / Aug. 2 – Oct. 15
Summer Flounder Image Courtesy of ASMFC
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Historic Germantown is one of hundreds of organizations whose IMLS grant have been cancelled. The consequences go beyond fundraising and infrastructure issues
By Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer
In 2023, Historic Germantown received word that it had won a two-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to pilot a new hands-on science program for middle schoolers called Science Sleuths.
The size of the award was relatively modest — $108,812 — but the impact promised to be enormous. If the initiative was able to prove its worth, it could be replicated, bringing accessible science education to thousands of Philadelphia students.
Today, the program is calculating its losses. Historic Germantown recently learned the grant was one of hundreds across the country approved by the IMLS and the National Endowment for the Humanities that have been canceled by the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
If leaders of Historic Germantown cannot find replacement money, in the next week or so, to fund the program through the rest of the school year, they say they have no choice but to shut it down.
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Life at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean is slow, dark and quiet. Strange creatures glitter and glow. Oxygen seeps mysteriously from lumpy, metallic rocks. There is little to disturb these deep-ocean denizens.
“There’s weird life down here,” said Bethany Orcutt, a geomicrobiologist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Research in the deep sea is incredibly difficult given the extreme conditions, and rare given the price tag.
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to permit, for the first time, industrial mining of the seabed for minerals. Scientists have expressed deep reservations that mining could irreversibly harm these deep-sea ecosystems before their value and workings are fully understood.
What’s down there, anyway?
Seafloor mining could target three kinds of metal-rich deposits: nodules, crusts and mounds. But right now, it’s all about the nodules. Nodules are of particular value because they contain metals used in the making of electronics, sophisticated weaponry, electric-vehicle batteries and other technologies needed for human development. Nodules are also the easiest seafloor mineral deposit to collect.
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New Jersey lawmakers from both parties are sounding the alarm over escalating energy costs, but their views on the root causes—and the best solutions—couldn’t be more different. Two recent hearings on energy affordability underscored the growing urgency of the issue, while highlighting stark partisan divides over how to address it.
In a joint legislative hearing this week, Democratic members of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee and the Senate Select Committee grilled executives from the state’s four major utility providers—PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric—over rising rates set to hit customers in June. Lawmakers demanded greater accountability, questioning whether utilities could do more to shield residents from rate hikes.
“Our constituents are having to choose between paying for electricity and paying for food or medicine,” said Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Atlantic, Burlington). “We need real ideas, not vague answers.”
Assemblyman Dave Bailey (D-Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem) pressed utility leaders on whether modest reductions in their return on investment could ease financial burdens on consumers. Others questioned the influence of PJM Interconnection—the organization responsible for managing the region’s electric grid—arguing that delays in integrating clean energy projects have constrained supply and driven prices up.
Meanwhile, Republican Senators Michael Testa (R-01) and Carmen Amato, Jr. (R-09) criticized what they called the Democrats’ “Energy Disaster Plan,” accusing the majority party of pushing aggressive energy mandates without considering grid reliability or economic impact.
“Democrats gambled on an energy plan that was utopian in ideas but dystopian in results,” said Sen. Testa. “Now, with public outrage escalating and energy bills surging, they’re scrambling to shift blame.”
Sen. Amato echoed the sentiment: “They bet on alternative energy sources and lost. Instead of accountability, we get political theater and broken promises.”
Senate Republicans have introduced legislation aimed at correcting course. The “Energy Security and Affordability Act” would require the state’s Energy Master Plan to account for energy diversity, security, and affordability, and mandate detailed impact analyses before greenlighting major projects. Sen. Testa also recently introduced S4285, calling for the abolition of the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), citing its failure to protect ratepayers. Sen. Amato has called for energy sales tax windfalls to be returned to consumers.
Despite their differences, lawmakers from both sides agree that affordability must be prioritized. Assembly Democrats have advanced several bills to help, including the recently signed A4817, which creates an “Energy Bill Watch” program that lets smart meter customers track usage and set alerts to manage their energy bills more effectively.
With June rate increases looming, the pressure is mounting on Trenton to find common ground—or risk leaving New Jersey residents and businesses stuck with the bill.
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A Bradford County, Pennsylvania farmer has been named the new EPA administrator for the Mid-Atlantic region.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced President Trump’s appointee for the Mid-Atlantic region administrator position, who will oversee the implementation of federal environmental laws and priorities in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and the Chesapeake Bay.
The new appointee is Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey, a lifelong conservationist who grew up on a dairy farm in Bradford County. She brings experience with her family’s farm, work in the financial industry, and the intersections between business, environmental, and community needs.
“Amy’s experience and dedication to both agriculture and the environment make her a tremendous asset to the agency and the Mid-Atlantic Region,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “I am confident she is well equipped to carry out our mission and help deliver on our agenda to Power the Great American comeback.”
Van Blarcom-Lackey has a robust history of service. She was appointed the first Agricultural Ombudsman in Pennsylvania, addressing conflicts related to agriculture, land use, and environmental planning. She has over a decade of experience as a lobbyist for state and federal agricultural interests and over 20 years of experience in finance and business management.
“My commitment to sustainability traces back to over 30 years ago, when I founded a county-wide environmental group focused on watershed management and agricultural best practices. I’m excited to harness my passion for the environment to facilitate progress and support the Great American Comeback under the leadership of Administrator Zeldin and President Trump,” said Regional Administrator Van Blarcom-Lackey.
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The city of Dallas is suing 3M, DuPont and other chemical companies, alleging they contaminated some of the area’s drinking water.
The lawsuit alleges 3M and other companies manufactured and sold PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), often called “forever chemicals.” PFAS are known to be toxic, extremely persistent in the environment and capable of causing significant health risks.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used in various consumer products, such as nonstick metal coatings for cookware, paper food packaging, facial creams and cosmetics. The chemicals were used in Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF), a foam commonly used by firefighters to suppress fires.
The city says the foam was released over the years into its water system and soil. Many residential locations with groundwater contaminated by PFAS are near military bases or airports where AFFF firefighting foam was regularly used.
The city’s attorney’s office and 3M declined to comment.
The lawsuit is part of a multidistrict litigation brought by multiple public water providers and individuals against the companies that manufactured and sold these products. The city sued in January and filed an updated version on Feb. 28 in a District Court in Charleston, South Carolina.
Gale Pearson, a senior partner with the Dallas-based Nachawati Law Group, has been part of the plaintiffs’ executive committee on AFFF litigation. “The cat is out of the bag,” and companies can no longer deny the harmful effects of these chemicals, Pearson said.
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