Pennsylvania
Protecting the Upper Perkiomen
Upper Perkiomen Creek Upgrade
Clean Water Action has joined with several other organizations and county and municipal agencies to support a petition to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to increase protection for the Upper Perkiomen Creek and its tributaries. The Creek and its watershed have been evaluated by the Stroud Water Research Center and found to qualify for Exceptional Value (EV) status, which would afford it the highest level of protection Pennsylvania offers.
The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) will take the petition under advisement in February 2007 and DEP will begin its own round of tests and compare those results to the state standards for EV streams. A report from the PA DEP can be expected in the fall or early winter of 2008. A public comment period can be expected following the release of the DEP report. The final decision on elevating the status of the watershed will come from the EQB shortly thereafter.
Clean Water Action's Allentown office will be working to get as many municipalities within the watershed as possible to support the additional protection by organizing local community support through meetings and with its door-to-door canvass.
Up to this point, the Boroughs of Pennsburg, Green Lane and East Greenville, and the Townships of Hereford in Berks Co. and Marlborough and Douglass in Montgomery Co. have signed on in favor of this increased level of protection for the watershed. Clean Water Action thanks the elected officials from these municipalities for their foresight and for taking action to protect this vital natural resource.
Representatives from Clean Water Action and other organizations supporting the effort have also presented the case to the Upper Perkiomen Regional Planning Commission, its Parks sub-committee and to Upper Hanover Township (Montgomery Co.) We are waiting to hear back from them.
If you live in the Upper Perkiomen watershed, especially in Upper Hanover Township or Red Hill Borough, and want to help, contact Rick Loomis in our Allentown office or e-mail rloomis@cleanwater.org
