Here are 79 new stories in the PA Environment Digest about individuals, groups, local governments, farmers, businesses, watershed groups and many more working all across Pennsylvania to restore and protect the environment and show others the beauty that surrounds us.

While PA Environment Digest’s priority is to highlight positive examples of environmental and energy leadership, 2022 is an election year which demands accountability to voters.

PA Environment Digest Is Putting The Best Links To Environment & Energy Articles and NewsClips Here.   Are You Telling Your Story?

On December 12, the Better Path Coalition delivered signatures from 65 organizations, institutions, and businesses, and more than 2,700 individuals on a letter and petition calling on Governor-Elect Shapiro to ban road spreading of conventional drilling waste.

On December 12, the Associated Press reported the Department of Environmental Protection lifted a 12-year old ban on shale gas drilling under Dimock, Susquehanna County the same day [November 29] Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) pleaded no contest to criminal charges by the Office of Attorney General for polluting their water supply.  Read more here.

This editorial was first published in the Republican Herald and the Scranton Times on December 14, 2022--

On December 16, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced three professional geology firms, GeoServices, Ltd., Meiser & Earl, Inc., and David Miller Associates, Inc., were selected to begin independent evaluations of water quality for residents affected by the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline.

On December 15, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it has executed a $600,000 consent assessment of civil penalty (CACP) with John A. Joseph – individually and doing business as Joseph Contracting, John Joseph Contracting, and Perry Stone Supply LLC – to settle violations of the Solid Waste Management Act and Pennsylvania regulations that occurred between 2012 and 2015 in Dunbar, Perry, and South Union Townships, Fayette County.

A November 28 inspection report by the Department of Environmental Protection resulted in the agency issuing more Clean Streams Law violations to PA General Energy at the Shawnee water withdrawal and natural gas pipeline construction site on the Loyalsock Creek in Gamble Township, Lycoming County.

On December 14, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it issued a notice of violation (NOV) to Shell Chemicals Appalachia, LLC (Shell) for exceeding its rolling 12-month total emission limitations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during commissioning of its petrochemical facility in Potter Township, Beaver County. 

The Department of Environmental Protection reported collecting over $1,044,000 in civil penalties for environmental violations related to oil and gas industrial facilities in Pennsylvania last week.

The following DEP notices were published in the December 17 PA Bulletin related to oil and gas industry facilities.  Many of the notices offer the opportunity for public comments.

The 10th Annual Shale Gas and Public Health Conference hosted by the League Of Women Voters Of PA and University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health was held November 15-16.

On December 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote a letter to DEP accepting DEP’s final regulations setting VOC/methane limits on conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities for evaluation which “stops the imposition of federal highway funding sanctions that were set to take effect in Pennsylvania on December 15, 2022.”

The Pittsburgh-based Group Against Smog & Pollution now has available on demand the webinar What The Donora PA Smog Disaster Can Teach Us 74 Years Later.

On December 12, the Ohio River Valley Institute released a new report showing an energy decarbonizing strategy based on zero emissions resources, energy efficiency and increased electrification is 13 percent less costly than a strategy based on hydrogen/natural gas and carbon capture in 10-county Southwest Pennsylvania area.

On December 12, CNX Resources Corp. launched "Appalachia First," its vision for the future which draws on the company's regional leadership, core operational strengths, and innovative business model with the tagline-- “Produce It Here. Use  It Here - First.”

On December 13, Nuveen Green Capital and the Philadelphia Energy Authority announced the closing of $30.08 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing for a Freezpak cold storage facility at 2201 E. Allegheny Avenue in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia.

On December 14, the Department of Environmental Protection awarded $12.2 million in 2023 Countywide Action Plan (CAP) Implementation Grants to benefit 34 county teams across Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to support their progress in reducing nutrient and sediment pollution to restore the health of local streams, rivers, and lakes.

The national Council of State Community Development Agencies and Schuylkill County Commissioners recently recognized a Schuylkill County flood reduction project in Pine Grove Borough with its Sterling Achievement Award for Disaster Recovery.

On December 15, the U.S. Senate passed the Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines Act that will ensure that billions of dollars in new money for abandoned coal mine cleanup can be used for ongoing acid mine drainage treatment.

On December 17, the Department of Environmental Protection published notice of 2023 meeting dates for its related boards and advisory committees in the PA Bulletin.

On December 14, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced an internal policy on the use of electric bicycles (e-bikes) on DCNR lands is now final and effective immediately in state parks and forests.

On December 15, the Department of Agriculture announced the protection of 2,478 acres on 30 farms in 18 counties from future residential, or commercial development, investing more than $8.9 million in state, county, local and nonprofit dollars in protecting prime farmland for the future.

On December 12, Natural Lands announced the permanent preservation of 278 acres in Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County. Once known as Pocono Drag Lodge, the site’s drag race strip, which operated in the 1960s, was an iconic part of the region’s car racing heritage.

The Lebanon Valley Conservancy is pleased to announce the conservation of a 12-acre property in South Londonderry Township. The property, owned by Dr. Rugh and Sylvia Henderson, is nestled in the rolling hills of the western area of Lebanon County.

The French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, in partnership with East Pikeland Township, has protected another 4.45 acres in northern Chester County.

Where many people might notice a small, nondescript meadow adjacent to Route 281 near the bridge crossing the Youghiogheny River at Confluence, Somerset County, Barbara Wallace spies an opportunity to create a wildlife friendly habitat.

The December 16 Take Five Fridays With Pam is now available from the PA Parks & Forests Foundation--

Opportunities to learn more about environmental and energy issues affecting Pennsylvania for students and adults--

The James C. Finley Center for Private Forests at Penn State and its partners invite you to participate in the 2023 Forest Landowners Conference on March 24-25, an educational and networking opportunity for landowners and professionals in State College.

Penn State Extension is hosting a nine-part Woods In Your Backyard webinar series starting January 11 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. each day.

WeConservePA will host a February 2 webinar on Keeping PA's Privately-Owned Forests Intact And Working - Opportunities For Land Conservation from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

On December 15, the PA Parks and Forests Foundation announced it has received a grant from Bell's Brewery to conduct a land-water relationships education program at Susquehannock State Park in Lancaster County.

The Game Commission’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Stevens, PA on the Lebanon/Lancaster county border will celebrate its 50th anniversary of opening to the public in 2023 with a series of special activities and events through the year.

Pittsburgh-based Wild Excellence Films' documentary “Golden Eagles: Witnesses to a Changing West” will air on public television station WQED on Wednesday, December 21, at 10:00 p.m.

The next session will begin on January 3 when all this fun starts from scratch all over again!

Articles and NewsClips about federal actions impacting Pennsylvania--

On December 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc. will pay a $230,000 penalty to settle alleged federal Clean Water Act violations at its fruit processing facility in Peach Glen, Adams County.

Click Here for a list of public participation opportunities and a calendar of events.

Click Here for grants, awards, recognition programs and contest deadlines.

Highlights of the environmental and energy notices in the December 17 PA Bulletin--

Send your stories, photos and links to videos about your project, environmental issues or programs for publication in the PA Environment Digest to: PaEnviroDigest@gmail.com.

PA Environment Digest is a supporting member of the PA Organization for Watersheds & Rivers, PA Outdoor Writers Association, PA Council Trout Unlimited and the Doc Fritchey Chapter Trout Unlimited.