Pennsylvania
Allentown
Stream Protection is a Major Priority Around The Greater Lehigh Valley Area
Protecting our water resources and drinking water supplies has always been a priority for Clean Water Action. This is especially important with so many changes going on in Bucks, Montgomery, Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe Counties. Acres and acres of impervious surfaces are being created by out-of-control development while the frequency of destructive storms has increased the amount of flooding along the Delaware, Schuylkill and Lehigh Rivers and their tributaries. This one-two punch affects homeowners, businesses, drinking water quality and community health throughout the area.
One way to help protect residents and communities is by assuring that activities in key watersheds are controlled so that erosion, pollution and water supplies are protected from contamination. In 2006, the Lehigh Valley office joined with the Tunkhannock Creek / Tobyhanna Creek Watershed Association and the Tunkhannock Fishing Association to get municipalities and state and local entities to join with other groups and agencies to support Exceptional Value (EV) status for the Tunkhannock Creek. The Tunkhannock, in addition to having incredibly diverse and rare wildlife in and along the Creek, is also part of the City of Bethlehem's water supply. After a strong effort by organizations already on board, and a public meeting called by the Bethlehem Authority, the largest landowner in the watershed, all parties involved came around to support EV status, the highest level of protection PA can offer.
Now, efforts are underway to bring EV status to other area streams and rivers. Clean Water Action has joined with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy, Periomen Valley Trout Unlimited and others to bring municipalities in the Upper Perkiomen watershed (Berks, Montgomery and Bucks Counties) to support EV status for this stream and its tributaries. Work has also begun with the Martins / Jacoby Watershed Association in Northampton County to gain this special protection for the Martins and Walz Creeks. A recent presentation by Clean Water Action and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network showed that the Water Association has resources for this process that they didn't realize they had.
All in all, the east-central area of the state is making serious progress in protecting our water resources. If you live near a stream that has superior water quality and you want to take steps to protect it, contact your nearest Clean Water Action office for some ideas on how to go about this.
TCE Contamination Of Water, Air, Soil In Montgomery County Needs To Stop!
Clean Water Action is working with residents in the Collegeville / Trappe / Lower Providence area of Montgomery County to bring an end to TCE (Trichloroethylene) contamination of the water, air and soil in this fast-growing area northeast of Pennsylvania. One of the most contaminated areas in the nation for TCE, these communities are fighting two companies that use TCE to clean the metal tubing they produce.
One of the companies, Superior Tube, has applied for a permit to change their process. Clean Water Action offered testimony at a DEP hearing for that permit application. Adding to the concern of environmental and public health advocates is the fact that Superior recently had a TCE leak which released nearly 2,400 lbs of the chemical into the air over a two hour period. This was a major violation of their DEP permits. DEP later responded to public outrage by increasing air monitoring in the area and fining Superior tube $36,000 for the release, an amount that some feel is inadequate to stimulate greater caution and accountability by the company in the future. Clean Water Action is helping to organize community activists to lower and finally bring an end to the use of TCE in company operations, bring about stronger enforcement efforts on the part of the PA DEP and hasten clean-up of existing contamination in the water, air and soil.
The EPA lists TCE as a carcinogen in humans which can also cause other health problems from headaches to liver damage. The EPA has recently passed new, stricter rules for TCE emissions; however these plants, which produce very small metal tubes have been exempted from having to conform.
Protecting the Upper Perkiomen
Clean Water Action has joined with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and other organizations to ask the DEP to upgrade the Upper Perkiomen watershed to Exceptional Value status. Learn more about the Upper Perkiomen watershed.
Hazelton Dredge Spoils Dumping
Clean Water Action is working with citizen groups and State Representative Todd Eachus to prevent developers from using dredge spoils from river and harbor deepening projects in Pennsylvania, NJ, NY and MD to fill in an abandoned mine pit in the City of Hazleton. Learn more about dredging and Hazleton.
Stormwater Campaign
Many counties in eastern Pennsylvania are developing rapidly, creating large numbers of impervious surfaces that prevent rainfall from soaking underground to recharge our aquifers. Stormwater is often channeled into overloaded streams, leading to erosion and flooding. Clean Water Action is working with local municipalities to adopt new stormwater ordinances and to ensure that our drinking water remains clean and plentiful in the future. Learn more about effective stormwater management.
