Taste the Local Harvest North Branch Land Trust

"Taste the Local Harvest"

Presented by North Branch Land Trust

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Huntsville Golf Club

5:00-9:00pm

Please join us for this very casual, relaxed, fun event to

"taste the harvest" from our local farms!

Tickets are $50 and cover

DRINKS

locally produced brews and wines

FOODS

locally grown or raised foods prepared by the chef at Huntsville Golf Club

FOOTBALL

televised Sunday football games

MUSIC

tap your feet to bluegrass music by

THE COAL TOWN ROUNDERS

Tasting tables will host local brews, wines,

produce, beef, chicken, turkey,

cheese, bread and lots more.

You'll be able to speak with many of the farmers and producers

about their products and learn about their

methods of production and harvest. 

Come have a fun evening; dress casually; watch football; be entertained; sample the local fare at

tasting stations; learn about these local products

***FUN, FUN, FUN***

Price:  $50 per person

To purchase tickets please click this link:
http://www.nblt.org/events/taste-the-local-harvest

For further information contact:

North Branch Land Trust       or         Huntsville Golf Club

570-696-5545                             570-674-6545

romanansky@nblt.org                       bkammerer@golf-huntsville.com

Online Training Programs

Alternative and Renewable Energy

Sustainability and Sustainable Energy
Biosolids Management

Grant Writing Training Program
Improving Productivity
Managing a Non-Profit Organization
Project Management

New Well Owners Booklet Answers Many Questions

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Rick Grant, 570-325-2818

New Well Owners Booklet Answers Many Questions

When should you test your water? And what should you test it for?

WILKES-BARRE, PA—September 26, 2012—Brian Oram, a professional geologist and soil scientist and founder of B.F. Environmental Consultants, announced today that his firm is making available “The Pennsylvania Guide for Groundwater for Private Well Owners: What Do the Numbers Mean?” through the Water Research Center Portal at http://www.water-research.net/privatewellPA.htm

“The goal of this booklet is to help educate and inform citizens on issues related to water conservation, ensuring that private water supply systems produce safe drinking water for your family, protecting the long-term quality of our streams and drinking water sources, and helping you to understand the potential sources of pollution to our water resources,” Oram said.

The booklet provides general information explaining certified water testing, chain-of-custody, and drinking water regulations and standards. It provides information related to the health (primary standards) or aesthetic (secondary standards) concerns for each parameter and provides information on water quality parameters that do not specifically have a drinking water limit.

“This reference is a guide to understanding water quality that works by providing guidance on selecting water quality testing parameters for baseline testing from a citizen's perspective and by serving as a tool to help interpret water quality data,” Oram added.

In some cases, the document provides guidance on what actions a homeowner may want to consider in light of test results.

The booklet is part of the effort to support the Citizens Groundwater and Surfacewater Database, a grassroots effort to track change in groundwater quality in Pennsylvania. To learn more about the Citizen Groundwater/ Surfacewater Database and other Grassroots Efforts or to schedule an outreach event, go to http://www.water-research.net.

About B.F. Environmental Consultants, Inc.
B.F. Environmental Consultants, based in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Poconos, has been providing professional geological, soils, hydrogeological, and environmental consulting services since 1985. The company specializes in the following areas: hydrogeological and wastewater evaluations for siting land-based wastewater disposal systems; soils consulting (soil scientists), environmental monitoring, overseeing the siting, exploration, and development of community/ commercial water supply sources; baseline water testing, conducting “certified baseline samplers training programs”,  environmental training/ professional training courses, and other environmental services. For more information about B.F. Environmental Consultants, visit www.bfenvironmental.com and www.water-research.net.

# # #

Media Contact:
Rick Grant
Principal, RGA Public Relations
570-325-2818
rick.grant@rga-pr.com

Marcellus Shale Coalition Launches New Website - Learn about Shale

"MSC Launches Learn About Shale Community Conversation
Effort builds upon Ask About Shale listening campaign

Philadelphia, PA – Today, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the SHALE GAS INSIGHT 2012 conference, the Marcellus Sale Coalition (MSC) announced the launch of Learn About Shale, a community conversation designed to answer questions submitted by the public during the organization’s Ask About Shale initiative.

Ask About Shale, during a three-month period, generated more than 600 questions through various community listening sessions, online submissions, post cards and telephone surveys on a range of topics, including the economic and environmental benefits of natural gas, and government’s role in the natural gas development process. Learn About Shale aims to answer each straightforwardly, leveraging subject matter expertise from industry representatives, academic researchers, and other key stakeholders. In addition to answering every question submitted to date, LearnAboutShale.org also allows the public to submit additional questions.

Key officials, including Pa. Department of Environmental Protection secretary Michael Krancer, Pa. Public Utility Commission chairman Robert Powelson and commissioners Wayne Gardner and Pamela Witmer, MSC chairman Dave Spigelmyer of Chesapeake Energy, Range Resources’ Scott Roy and Pam McCormick of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, participated in an event launching this initiative at the MSC’s SHALE GAS INSIGHT conference in Philadelphia.

“Since its founding three years ago, the Marcellus Shale Coalition has strived to be a resource of fact-based information that fosters a constructive dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders,” said MSC president Kathryn Klaber. “We launched Ask About Shale in an effort to further that conversation and hear directly from southeastern Pennsylvanians. With 600 questions submitted over the past few months, we are now transitioning into the answering phase, further demonstrating our commitment to ensuring we get this historic opportunity right from the perspective of the people of Pennsylvania.”

The MSC will regularly provide answers to questions submitted through LearnAboutShale.org. The site will serve as a clearinghouse where the general public and those interested in more information can view fact-based information, while also submitting new questions.

“Engaging the community on their terms and in a way they feel comfortable is our goal," continued Klaber. "As questions are answered, we are committed to providing honest and straightforward information. That is our responsibility and that's what our community deserves."

Sample questions include:

• How much natural gas is PA producing per month?
   
• Why is Propane so freakin expensive?
   
• Can the industry take a day-in-the-life with process information, with simple graphs and charts?
   
• Why won't you disclose the hundreds of chemicals your pumping into the ground and back into our watershed here in PA?
             
• When comparing fuels, how does natural gas fare with respect to GHG emissions for:   Transportation? Electricity? Heat?
   
• How and by whom is [natural gas] regulated?
   
• How many taxes they will pay for it and what are consumers (non-drillers) getting out of all of this?
                
• Why not invest in Wind and Solar Energy and leave Oil and Natural Gas's dirty practices to the Cavemen?
   
• How long will this go on?  What is the longevity of the opportunity?"

Do You Really Want to Protect Water Quality in Our Communities?

NEWS RELEASE

Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs September 29, 2012 at 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
National Take Back Program

On September 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a local agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  Bring your medications for disposal to the location on September 29, 2012.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners.  In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills. 

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them.  The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances.  DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act.  Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

To find a local agency and program in your area - Go to National Take Back Program

Proper Drug Disposal is Critical  !

Also - Please do not forget to recycle, conserve, use "Greener Products" and please get your drinking water tested.

Post Sponsored by The Citizens Groundwater and Surfacewater Database - Working Together to Make a Positive Change.

.

The Need for the Water Research Center and Help for Private Well Owners

Why I do the work I do .
At the Water-Research.net - we get about 500 to 1500 unique visitors per day, but very few emails.  In most cases, private well owners find the information they need for free.  

Well Today I Received the following:

"I recently had my water tested at the house.  the tap had 144 ppm of TDS or total dissolved solids.  It had 30 dps of soap.  I am not sure what TDS encompasses, but I was told that the drinking water was very contaminated.  we could not afford the whole house water filtration system just now, so we put a PUR water filter on the tap for our drinking water.  Will this keep us safe and what does TDS encompass?  Thanks for your help. "
Signed J

My response

Hi J,

I do not think you were given the correct information

Drinking water standard for Total dissolved solids is  500 ppm  - it should be less than this level - you are.  This is not a red flag.

30 drops of soap - this is moderately hard water - hardness between 60 and 120 mg/L.  This is not a red flag

If your water creates red, black, or dark stains - this is a potential red flag.

If you water leaves a blue green stain - this is a potential red flag.

But where is the rest of the data - Based on the information provide - "I would not tell you have a water quality problem - or a water quality problem were the words "very contaminated" would apply."  (Oram, B. 2012)

If you might want to find out what the actual quality of the water is I would recommend ordering a water testing kit - mail order -

http://www.water-research.net/drinkingwatertestkit.htm

If you can afford - Kit 9000 Water Check 1 & 2

When you get the results - I will evaluate for free.

If you have any questions - do NOT hesitate to ask and good luck.

PS: The pure water filter is a carbon block filter - it was not designed to control hardness, but it will likely improved the quality of the water slightly.

Thanks

Brian Oram

http://www.water-research.net

The Hazards Of Unplugged Wells

The Hazards Of Unplugged Wells written by Save Our Streams PA

Save Our Streams PA would like to ask you to take a few minutes to consider the hazards and risks associated with unplugged oil and gas wells. To obtain more information, please visit the links provided here.  More importantly, I hope this letter will inspire you to take a few minutes to write to your state representatives¹, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection² (PADEP), the Technical Advisory Board^2b ,your local municipal and county officials. Tell them that unplugged, abandoned wells near new drilling operations need to be plugged.

I am asking you to do this on behalf of all citizens who currently live in areas that have unplugged, abandoned wells,³ located throughout the historic oil and gas regions ^3bof Pennsylvania.

Where active drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations takes place in the vicinity of abandoned and unplugged wells⁴, the natural protections assumed to be provided by underground geology no longer exist because abandoned wells may act as direct pathways for methane to travel to the aquifer and surface. The presence of abandoned wells significantly heightens the risk of methane migration and contamination.

Lives have been lost⁵, homes have exploded⁶, geysers have occurred⁷, and water sources have been contaminated⁸.  These events have been well documented by the PADEP⁹ and the news media.

We should not tolerate this. We need our elected officials to work diligently to address this problem.

This is not about stopping shale gas exploration.

This is not about politics.

This is about replacing the current plan, which allows oil and gas operators to plug nearby unplugged wells on a voluntary basis¹⁰, with a plan that requires operators to plug the abandoned and unplugged wells ¹¹ that are located near new drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations.

This is about being responsible.

This is about protecting the health and safety of citizens, public and private water sources, and the environment.

The Technical Advsory Board (TAB) recently proposed changes to: § 78.15 Application Requirements In the:Summary of Proposed Conceptual Changes Office of Oil and Gas Management (OOGM) Title 25 Pa. Code.¹²

One of TAB's recommendations is to require operators to identify the locations of abandoned wells within 1,000 feet of the entire well bore length.  However, without a requirement to plug those wells, the risks remain.

It is imperative that citizens call for mandatory plugging of abandoned wells located near new drilling operations. Please, share this request with others, and write today! Tell Pennsylvania officials that these risks and not acceptable and that now is the time to take action to minimize the risks associated with abandoned wells.

Thank you,

Save Our Streams PA

www.saveourstreamspa.org

1:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/contact.cfm?body=H&filter=all

2: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

2b: TAB member list: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/subject/advcoun/oil_gas/tabmem.htm

3: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwV75wo6lhJPZ25fei1CWDNPQlU

3b: http://www.mideastgas.com/drilling_areas.html

4: http://www.scribd.com/doc/77582900/Orphaned-NY-Oil-and-Gas-Wells

5: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100523/NEWS01/5230346/Pa-seeks-stronger-drilling-rules-combat-methane-migration

6: http://protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/house-explosions-in-bradford-county-pennsylvania-tied-to-migrating-methane-gas-from-drilling-activity/

7: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/07/30/in-northeast-pennsylvania-methane-migration-means-flammable-puddles-and-30-foot-geysers/

8: http://www.propublica.org/article/deteriorating-oil-and-gas-wells-threaten-drinking-water-homes-across-the-co

9: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwV75wo6lhJPR3JFUWNnQm9IQUE

10: http://shadbushcollective.org/?p=382

11:Page 7; 2. Baseline Surveys: The review team also noted that DEP has not required operators to identify potential conduits for fluid migration (such as active and abandoned wells) in the area of hydraulic fracturing. The review team recommends that DEP consider whether there are areas or situations in which wells (active and abandoned) in the vicinity of hydraulic fracturing operations provide pathways for fluid movement into groundwater. In such areas or situations, DEP should require operators to identify and eliminate these potential pathways for fluid movement into groundwater before conducting hydraulic fracturing operations. http://www.strongerinc.org/sites/all/themes/stronger02/downloads/PA%20HF%20Review%20Print%20Version.pdf

12:http://files.dep.state.pa.us/OilGas/BOGM/BOGMPortalFiles/OilGasReports/2012/TAB%20MEETINGS/Ch78SubchCSummaryFINALDRAFT8-07-12.pdf
Technical Advisory Board member list: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/subject/advcoun/oil_gas/tabmem.htm

Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission
Office of the Governor
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
marcelluscommission@pa.gov

Comments

1. I agree that this should be part of the permitting effort.

2. I agree that some of the funding from the impact fee should be used to identify locations, evaluate, and make recommendations.

3. I agree a private and public partnership should spearhead this effort- coordinated by a 501C3.

Respiratory Care Pharmacology Training Course

Respiratory Care Pharmacology Part I (Complete Course)

Respiratory Care Pharmacology presents the essential, need-to- know information on respiratory pharmacology. It covers pharmacokinetics principles as they relate to respiratory agents, drug administration, and a range of specific drugs used in respiratory care and their effects on body systems. 6th edition features newly released drugs and updated discussions with new content on adrenergic bronchodilators, mucoactive agents, antiasthma agents, anti-infective agents, cardiac drugs, and circulatory drugs. Corresponding Textbook: RAU's Respiratory Care Pharmacology By Douglas S. Gardenhire, EdD (c), RRT 18 hours Text Info: 75 Multiple Choice and True/False Questions 75% needed to pass, three tries if not passed on first try Textbook Info: Master the essentials of respiratory care pharamacology! Celebrating its 30th year in publication, the new edition of this classic resource is completely updated and now even easier to read! IT offers essential, need-to-know information about respiratory pharmacology in a full-color, vividly illustrated format that simplifies complex concepts and prepares you for practice. This edition includes the most recent FDA-approved medications and reflects the current state of respiratory care practice in today’s health care environment. Quickly learn key pharmacology concepts: -Pharmacokinetic principles as they relate to respiratory care -The principles of drug action -The basic methods of drug administration -Standard drug calculations -The effects of drugs on body systems Stay up to date with the latest developments in the field: -The most recent FDA-approved medications -Regular drug updates on a companion Evolve website -Drugs used to treat critical care and cardiovascular patients Prepare for certification and clinical practice: -learning objectives parallel the recall, analysis, and application levels tested on the NBRC examination -Key terms define important respiratory care pharmacology terminology -Key Points boxes identify the most relevant concepts. Visit this site to get more information under -Respiratory CE - we also offer a line of Career Programs & Courses (pharmacy, medical billing, paralegal, and other job search tools).