PA Newsletters: Past Volumes
January/February 2000

Springton Reservoir provides drinking water for most of southern Delaware County. DEP is considering a proposal to allow a new sewage treatment plant less than two miles upstream of Springton Reservoir. The plant would be part of a new commercial development, and would discharge up to 50,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into a creek that feeds directly into the reservoir.

What You Can Do: Write to Donna Ulan, DEP, 555 North Lane, Conshohocken, PA 19428, James Sief, DEP, PO Box 8467, Harrisburg, PA 17105 and your State Rep and State Senator (Main Capitol Bldg, Harrisburg, PA 17120). Let them know you oppose the proposed Marville at Newtown sewage treatment plant. Tell them not to allow new sewage treatment facilities that might contaminate our drinking water supplies.

Statewide News and Action Alerts

 Legislature Votes to Raid Environmental Funding

Before adjourning for the holidays, the PA Senate and House both voted to fund Governor Ridge’s Growing Greener Initiative by raiding money from existing environmental programs. These raids could endanger the future of recycling in our state and expose people to more pollution from hazardous waste sites and leaking landfills.   

Ridge administration officials have admitted that the state Recycling Fund won’t support Growing Greener unless out of state waste imports increase by at least 3 million tons over last year’s levels.  PA already is #1 for trash imports - we don‘t need any more! 

 On November 16, the Senate voted, by a 12–38 vote, to reject  an amendment offered by Senator Stewart Greenleaf that would have eliminated the raids on the Recycling and Hazardous Sites Cleanup Funds and the Landfill Closure Accounts. 

 On December 8, the PA House voted to approve a bill into which the Senate had amended the Growing Greener Initiative. This bill still included the raids on the Recycling and Hazardous Sites Cleanup Funds and the Landfill Closure Accounts that we opposed. Several motions to stop the bill or to stop the raids on the other funds failed.

Write to your State Senator and Representative and let them know how you feel about their votes.  

 ·         If they voted to stop the raids on the Recycling Fund, the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, and the Landfill Closure Accounts, thank them for their leadership and support for the environment. 

 ·         If they voted to support the raids, let them know that you are disappointed in their votes.   Tell them that the raids on existing programs will harm our environment. 

Address your letters to:  Main Capitol, Harrisburg PA 17120.  Include your name and address and be sure to ask for a reply.