Thursday PA Environment & Energy Articles - NewsClips: 7.16.26

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

-- Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution  [It’s Not A Suggestion]

House Voting Schedule

September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

​​September 28, 29, 30

October 5, 6, 7, 19, 20, 21

November 17, 18

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

TODAY 1:00:  In-Person. Penn State Extension Workshop  On Understanding PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Private Water Supplies. Uniontown, Fayette County. 1:00 p.m.

TODAY In-Person. Powering America's Next 250 Years Energypath Conference Set For At Moravian University

July 22-- Agenda Posted. DCNR Conservation & Natural Resources Advisory Council meeting.  Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 10:00 a.m.   Read more here on agenda.

July 23-- Agenda Posted. DEP Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board meeting. Rachel Carson Building, Harrisburg. 10:00 a.m.

July 27-- Virtual. Outdoor Business Alliance Of PA Hosts Webinar On Outdoor Participation Trends And What They Mean For Your Business.  Noon to 1:00 p.m.

August 4-- DEP: Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority meeting. Rachel Carson Building, Harrisburg. 10:00 a.m.

-- DEP Declares Statewide Code Red Air Quality Alert For Thursday, July 16 Due To Impacts Of Wildfire Smoke from Canada And Minnesota

-- TribLive: Wildfire Smoke Again Headed For Pittsburgh Region

-- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Under Code Red Air Quality Alert As Wildfire Smoke Moves In

-- EPA Smoke Conditions Map

-- PJM Extends Maximum Generation Alert To July 16; Hot Weather Alert To Continue Thru At Least July 17  [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro's Legal Action To Impose Price Cap On PJM Interconnection Generation Capacity Auctions  Results In Saving Consumers $13.3 Billion In Latest Power Auction  [PaEN]

-- Delaware RiverKeeper: Congressional Effort To Overturn Fracking Ban In Delaware River Watershed Died In Committee, This Time  [PaEN]  

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Fracking Ban In The Delaware River Basin Survives A Republican Congressional Challenge - For Now  

-- PA US Sen. McCormick Announces Nearly $10 Billion In Defense Investments: Eos Energy Storage, Firepoint Energy Coal Waste Recovery Project

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Eos Energy Storage Company Tapped To Power Golden Dome Missile Defense System 

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: 74% Of Americans Want Action On Climate, But Many Philadelphians Don’t Know They’re Part Of A Majority

-- Planet Philadelphia Radio: July 17 Understanding Radical Climate Activists , 4:00 p.m.

-- PA Infrastructure Investment Authority Invests $306.4 Million In 29 Local Safe Drinking Water, Wastewater Infrastructure Projects In 23 Counties  [PaEN] 

-- York Daily Record: Codorus Creek Greenway Project Could Begin In 2027

-- Inside Climate News: Chesapeake Bay Program Delays Decision On Tribes’ Place In Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Agreement

-- WNEP: EPA Administrator Visits Luzerne County Superfund Site To Witness $39 Million Groundwater Cleanup Project Launch

-- WNEP: Goodwill Industries, Reworld Partner For Electronics Recycling  In Lackawanna County

-- DEP To Conduct Mosquito Control In Ridley, Darby, Tinicum Townships, Delaware County Related To West Nile Virus 

 

-- DCNR Grants News: Thank You Park & Recreation Professionals Day July 17!  Bridgeton Nature Preserve Opens; Conestoga River Of The Year Video; Meadow Management Workshop July 21 

-- Western PA Conservancy, Partners Dam Removal Project To Improve Fish Habitat On Callen Run In Jefferson County  [PaEN] 

-- The Allegheny Front: New Book By Pittsburgh Author Tory Mather Explores The Natural Wonders Of Pennsylvania

 A.I. /Data Centers

-- Inquirer: Upper Merion Planning Commission Set To Discuss 5 Building A.I. Data Center Proposal By Brian O’Neill July 22 In Montgomery County 

-- TribLive: East Deer Twp. Commissioners Take Initial Step Toward Regulating Potential A.I. Data Centers In Allegheny County 

-- The Citizens’ Voice: Dallas Twp. Residents Pack Meeting Amid Fears Of A.I. Data Center Development In Luzerne County

-- LancasterOnline: New Rules Erase Future A.I. Data Center Sites In Lancaster City, Does Not Impact Projects Already Proposed

-- Gov. Shapiro's Legal Action To Impose Price Cap On PJM Interconnection Generation Capacity Auctions  Results In Saving Consumers $13.3 Billion In Latest Power Auction  [PaEN] 

-- Utility Dive: PJM Generation Capacity Auction Prices Hit Price Cap, Reserve Shortfall Grows

-- Morning Call: A.I. Data Centers Bump Power Cost 60% As Mega US Grid Fails To Hit Supply Goal

-- Scranton Times: US DOE Authorizes PJM To Require A.I. Data Centers To Use Backup Power To Avoid Outages

-- Inside Climate News: New York Becomes First State To Pause New A.I. Data Center Development 

-- Wall Street Journal: The A.I. Backlash Has Tech Executives Fearing For Their Lives 

Today’s Oil & Gas Violations

-- Today’s Violation: DEP met with owner of Thomas & Kimberlie Dawson conventional well at the site in Erie County, Union Township on what was needed to clean up contaminated water discovered on Nov. 6, 2025 and bring the well into compliance.  245 days and counting.  DEP inspection report.

International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

[Energy Independence Means Renewables]

-- July 16: PA Average AAA Gasoline Price Increases Back To $4.00/Gallon - $.90/Gallon Higher Than On Feb. 27 [Potter County Average Price Highest at $4.26] 

-- July 16: Average AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $3.94  Ohio- $3.79  PA- $4.00

-- Feb. 27: Average AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $2.98  Ohio- $2.79  PA- $3.11

-- WESA/NPR: Oil Companies Are Making Billions, Calls To Tax Their Windfall Profits Are Growing

-- Bloomberg: First US LNG Natural Gas Cargo In A Year Docks In Yangpu Port To Power Chinese Economy

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- PennLive: Independent Fiscal Office: PA Still Faces Underlying $5  Billion Deficit, Despite Budget Reprieve

-- Inquirer Editorial: PA Lawmakers Passed A Budget And Ducked Every Hard Question  

-- PennLive Editorial: It’s Time For PA Voters To Demand Accountability From Their Free-Spending Lawmakers

-- The Center Square: Quinnipiac University Poll Has Shapiro Leading Garrity 53% to 40%

-- TribLive: Quinnipiac University Poll: Majority Of PA Democrats Want Fetterman Out Of The Party

-- PennLive: Challenger Stelson Gains Fundraising Momentum, Easily Outpaces PA Republican Con. Scott Perry In Latest Quarter

Click Here for latest PA Environmental News

Like PA Environment Digest on Facebook

Follow PA Environment Digest on Twitter  

Read Weekly PA Environment Digest

Diversity - Equity - Inclusion

[Posted: July 16, 2026]  PA Environment Digest

Western PA Conservancy, Partners Dam Removal Project To Improve Fish Habitat On Callen Run In Jefferson County

Fish such as native brook trout, smallmouth bass and more in Callen Run will have improved habitat, thanks to a dam removal project scheduled to be implemented in late July by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy with several partners.

Callen Run, a High Quality Coldwater Fishery with wild trout that is a tributary to the Clarion River, is popular with anglers and outdoor enthusiasts. 

The project will begin July 20 and last through early August, weather permitting, in Heath Township, Jefferson County.

In addition to the Conservancy, project partners include Heath Township Sportsmen’s Club, National Fuel Gas Company, Jefferson County Conservation District, PennWest-Clarion University, American Rivers, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Boat Commission. 

Luke Bobnar, watershed projects manager with the Conservancy, says the project aims to reconnect fish populations with historic habitat, while providing improved water intake pipes for Heath Township Sportsmen’s Club Co-Op Trout Nursery and a dry hydrant line for the Sigel Volunteer Fire Department.

“A five-foot-tall dam has been on Callen Run since the early 1900s, when it replaced one that had been in place since roughly the Civil War,” Luke says, noting that the stream provides water for the trout nursery. 

“The dam is silted in, and the water going into the nursery can get pretty warm in summer. Removing the dam will allow colder water to enter the nursery and river, which is healthier for trout in the Clarion River and for the overall ecosystem.”

The work will include removing the dam and much of the sediment, and grading and stabilizing the banks. There will be evidence of construction at the site and downstream. Some muddy water is expected, but water quality will not be affected.

Support from local anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, as well as the Heath Township Sportsmen’s Club, made the project possible, says Luke, noting that discussion for the project began nearly a decade ago.

“After the stream works for a year healing itself, we plan to reassess, then design and install appropriate fish habitat structures,” he says. 

The project is a continuation of work done during the past decade in the watershed, including a dam removal on Johns Run in 2018 that improved stream connectivity for several species.

Removing the dam at the nursery, about 600 feet upstream of the mouth at the Clarion River, will restore passage to nearly seven miles of upstream habitat for up to 19 fish species and other aquatic species.

 “The passage will provide access to habitat that’s been restricted since the 1860s,” Luke says. 

Other downstream species that will benefit include several mussel host species important to mussel conservation efforts in the Clarion River.

This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority, as well as by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Fuel Gas Company.

For more information about the Callen Run habitat improvement project, please contact Kylie Maland, WPC’s watershed manager for Lake Erie and Ohio River basin, at 814-776-1114 or kmaland@paconserve.org. 

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy enhances the region by protecting and restoring exceptional places. 

A private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932, WPC has helped establish 11 state parks, conserved more than 290,000 acres of natural lands, protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams, and assessed thousands of wildlife species and their habitats. 

The Conservancy owns and operates Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and symbolizes people living in harmony with nature. 

In addition, WPC enriches our region’s cities and towns through 125 community gardens and other green spaces and thousands of trees that are planted with the help of more than 7,000 volunteers. 

The work of the Conservancy is accomplished through the support of more than 10,000 members. 

Related Articles This Week:

-- PA Infrastructure Investment Authority Invests $306.4 Million In 29 Local Safe Drinking Water, Wastewater Infrastructure Projects In 23 Counties  [PaEN]  

-- 2027 Penn State Extension Landowners Conference Sponsor, Exhibitor Opportunities - March 4-6, State College

-- Penn State Center For Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training Hosts Aug. 19 Webinar On Staying Safe During Farm Visits, 9:00 a.m.

-- Penn State Extension Hosts Sept. 30 Webinar For Manure Injection For Water Quality, Noon to 1:00 p.m.

NewsClips:

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill Headwaters Assn. Receives $6.6 Million Federal Grant To Restore Coal Waste In North Manheim Twp

[Posted: July 16, 2026]  PA Environment Digest