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Envirobytes - Archive
ENVIROBYTES, A SUMMARY OF ISSUES AND EVENTS FOR WEEK ENDING AUGUST 17, 2012 AND AUGUST 24, 2012
DEPUTY REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR PRESENTS $58,000 TO PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY TO REVITALIZE PHILADELPHIA-AREA WATERSHED
On Aug. 15, Deputy Regional Administrator Bill Early presented a $58,000 Urban Waters grant to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to support 10 stormwater infrastructure pollution control projects to restore the streams, creeks and rivers of the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford watershed, revitalize neighborhoods, teach green skills and support green jobs. PHS is also providing $10,500 for this initiative. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/index.html.
EPA AWARDS $600,000 GRANT TO TURTLE CREEK VALLEY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS TO ASSESS ALLEGHENY COUNTY PROPERTIES FOR POTENTIAL REDEVELOPMENT
On Aug. 21, EPA announced a $600,000 Brownfields Coalition Assessment Grant to the Turtle Creek Valley Council of Governments to identify and assess potentially contaminated sites in southeast Allegheny County, Pa. for cleanup and redevelopment. Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin congratulated the grant recipients at the press conference at the former U.S. Steel Slag Dump in Penn Hills. To see list of all awarded brownfields grants by state, visit: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/.
EPA AWARDS $55,600 TO RESTORE MORGANTOWN WEST VIRGINIA'S DECKERS CREEK
On Aug. 20, EPA awarded a $55,600 EPA's Urban Waters program grant to the Friends of Deckers Creek, a community-based partnership near Morgantown, W. Va. The funds will be used to initiate a public education campaign to educate the community about the pollution issues facing Deckers Creek from acid mine drainage, and to initiate a study to address the acid mine drainage and other pollution issues. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/index.html.
UPGRADES AT WEST VIRGINIA'S FAIRMONT WATER PLANT TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH, HELP ECONOMY
On Aug. 20, federal, state and local officials marked completion of a $12.1 million upgrade to improve the Fairmont Water Filtration Plant with $8.8 million in EPA funds including $4.4 million from the federal Recovery Act. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the plant, EPA Administrator Shawn M. Garvin also acknowledged Fairmont officials for providing drinking water protection through their excellent planning, management and finance. For information on EPA's Recovery Act projects, visit www.epa.gov/recovery/.
EPA SPONSORS FREE PEST CONTROL TRAINING FOR MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING SEPT. 12 IN PHILADELPHIA, PA.
On Sept. 12th, EPA Region 3 will hold a free integrated pest management course at its regional office located at 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. Interested parties can learn about the most effective measures for pest control that minimize toxic exposure to chemically sensitive and vulnerable populations. To register, please go to http://www.nchh.org/Training/HealthyHomesTrainingCenter/TrainingPartners/PennState.aspx.
EPA AND OFFICE OF FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXECUTIVE HONOR FEDERAL ELECTRONICS STEWARDSHIP EFFORTS
On Aug. 13, EPA and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive announced the recipients of the 2012 Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) Awards which will be given to 33 federal facilities from ten different federal agencies. The activities of the winners resulted in $7.8 million in Fiscal Year 2011 savings and resulted in greenhouse gas emissions reductions equivalent to taking 6,000 passenger cars off the road for a year. For the winners, go to https://www.epa.gov/fec/awards.html#winners
EPA AWARDS $2 MILLION TO SMALL BUSINESSES TO SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION, PROTECT HEALTH
On Aug. 7, EPA awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awards totaling more than $2 million to seven small businesses who won the Phase I competition in 2011 for developing environmentally viable technologies. Among the seven Phase II winners that can now fund development of their technologies for the market place was FBS, Inc., Pennsylvania (State College, Pa.) whose winning technology uses ultrasonic guided waves to detect defects in water pipelines. For more information, go to http://www.SBIR.gov
HIGHER BLENDING LIMITS FOR ETHANOL IN GASOLINE UPHELD BY COURT
On Aug. 17, a U.S. Appeals court upheld EPA's approval to mandate a blend limit for corn ethanol into gasoline for conventional vehicles from a maximum of 10 percent ethanol by volume to 15 percent by volume. The 15 percent ethanol blended gasoline (E15) will satisfy a federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) to increase the levels of renewables into gasoline to displace U.S. dependence on foreign oil. This year, the RFS is set at 13.2 billion gallons of conventional biofuels, consisting mainly of corn-based ethanol.
