PA Environment Digest Blog

On September 28, the Delaware Highlands Conservancy announced the winners of the ninth annual juried photo contest -- Confluence: Land, Water, Wildlife.

Winners were selected in six categories: landscape, wildlife, macro, water, and the Van Scott Nature Reserve, plus a youth category for photographers under age 18 and a People’s Choice winner

The winners are-

-- Landscape category, winner Jane Biron (Chester, NJ); runners-up Roger Gottlieb (Port Jervis, NY) and Milicent Wightman (Beach Lake, PA).

-- Wildlife category, winner Patrick Santucci (Forestburgh, NY); runner-up Martha Tully with two photos (Glen Spey, NY).

-- Water category, winner Santford Overton (Ringoes, NJ); runners-up Karen Colaiaco (Matamoras, PA) and Milicent Wightman (Beach Lake, PA).

-- Macro category, winner Kathleen Colligan (Beach Lake, PA); runners-up Nicole Bernardone (Pleasantville, NY) and Sarah Hine (Waymart, PA).

-- Van Scott Nature Reserve category, winner Victoria Sanok (Honesdale, PA); runners-up Arielle Lane (Milford, PA) and Steven Mauren (White Lake, NY).

-- Youth category, winner Owen Doyle, age 15; runners-up Daisy Olivo Heller, Kayla France, and Carson Wightman.

-- People’s Choice winner is Eileen Chorba (Beach Lake, PA) and the Staff Pick is Aaron Smith (Glen Spey, NY).

The winning photos are available for viewing on the Delaware Highlands Conservancy Facebook page.

ARTery Gallery Exhibition

The ARTery Gallery in Milford, PA will host the Conservancy from November 12th until December 7th in an exhibition featuring the winning photographs alongside artwork created by ARTery member artists.

The show will commence with a reception open to the public on November 14th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

“Meeting the photographers and sharing their work with visitors, who thoroughly enjoy the beautiful images of our region, is a high point of our yearly exhibit schedule,” says gallery Director, Marie Liu. “The public is encouraged to visit the exhibit throughout its month-long installation to enjoy the talent of these photographers, the awesome beauty that surrounds us in the Delaware River valley, and learn about the Conservancy.”

The Delaware Highlands Conservancy’s mission is to conserve the forests, farmland, clean waters, and wildlife habitat of the Upper Delaware River region for present and future generations and to foster environmental stewardship through community engagement.

[Posted: September 28, 2026] PA Environment Digest

“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 11:00: House Local Government Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1287 (Keefer-R-York) requiring proof of adequate water supply before final land development approval. Room 515 Irvis Building. 11:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

September 29-- House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee meets to consider House Bill 2584 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) requiring a user-friendly public record of utility rate increases; House Bill 2674 (Pielli-D-Chester) prohibiting data centers from obtaining public utility status. Room 523 Irvis Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

September 29-- Virtual. DEP Office Of Environmental Justice: Webinar On Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program, Act 2 Land Recycling Program. 4:00 p.m.

September 29-- Virtual. Penn State Extension Backyard Stream Repair Webinars (3 of 5) - Choosing Your Plants For Your Stream. 10:00 to 11:30 p.m.

September 29 to Oct. 2-- In-Person. Swarthmore Fungi Fest.

September 30-- House Energy Committee meets to consider House Bill 2755 (Pielli-D-Chester) requiring investor-owned utilities to join PJM to eliminate a “windfall” payment utilities receive at ratepayer expense; House Bill 2775 (Donahue-D-Lackawanna) to reduce development of speculative data center proposals, the legislation requires data center applicants seeking local zoning or land-use approval to demonstrate that they have submitted an interconnection application with the applicable electric utility provider and paid all mandatory fees and costs associated with the application; House Bill 2791 (Takac-D-Centre) provide an option for utilities and developers to co-locate electric transmission lines along certain PennDOT rights-of-ways; House Bill 2828 (Fiedler-D-Philadelphia) codifies the PUC’s large load tariff, charge large load customers for reliability backstop auction costs and curtail large load users during emergencies; House Resolution 564 (Freeman-D-Lehigh) directs the Joint State Government commission to investigate how heat from data centers can be captured and repurposed to improve energy efficiency, lower operating costs and reduces waste head emissions; House Resolution 630 (Sappey-D-Chester) directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study of decommissioning requirements for data centers. Room 205 Ryan Building. 9:30 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

September 30-- Agenda Posted. DEP Sewage Advisory Committee meeting. Room 105 Rachel Carson. 9:00 a.m.

September 30-- In-Person. Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community meeting on Sherwin Williams Facility. Rochester Riverfront Park, Rochester. 6:00 p.m.

October 5-- House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee holds a hearing on road spreading oil and gas wastewater and DEP’s new “mineral brine” conventional well permit. Room 205 Ryan Building. 10:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online. Read background here.

October 6-- House Energy Committee will hold an informational meeting on electric reliability and the PUC’s Assessing Electricity Resource Adequacy in Pennsylvania and PJM report. Room 205 Ryan Building. 9:00 a.m. Click Here to watch online.

October 6-- In-Person. 27+ Citizen, Environmental Groups To Hold No Data Center Rally Oct. 6 Main Capitol Rotunda In Harrisburg. 12:30 p.m.

October 7-- In-Person. 500 Feet Isn't Enough! The Protective Buffers PA Coalition Will Hold A Rally At The State Capitol In Harrisburg Calling For Increasing Setbacks From Shale Gas Drilling To Protect Public Health, The Environment. 12:30 p.m.

October 21-- House Energy Committee meeting. Information Meeting Agenda TBA. Click Here to watch online.

October 14-- In-Person. DEP Public Meeting/Hearing On Major Amendment To Water Quality Permit For Homer City Data Center/Power Plant Complex In Indiana County. Homer Center High School Auditorium, 70 Wildcat Lane, Homer City. 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.

-- September 21 -- Weekly PA Environment Digest Is Now Available [PaEN]

-- 27+ Citizen, Environmental Groups To Hold No Data Center Rally Oct. 6 Main Capitol Rotunda In Harrisburg [PaEN]

-- 500 Feet Isn't Enough! The Protective Buffers PA Coalition Will Hold A Rally At The State Capitol In Harrisburg Oct. 7 Calling For Increasing Setbacks From Shale Gas Drilling To Protect Public Health, The Environment [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Snapshot - September 19 to 25 [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 700: Seneca Resources Continues To Manage Contaminated Water From Taft Shale Gas Well Pad In Tioga County [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Violations To Mifflin Energy Resources LLC For Abandoning, Not Plugging 16 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Greene County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Tank Truck Releases Contaminated Water On Access Road Leading To EQT ARO LLC DCNR Shale Gas Well Pad In Lycoming County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Complaint Inspection Finds Slope Failure, Erosion & Sedimentation Violations Along Equitrans Water SVC (PA) LLC [EQT] Shale Gas Water Pipeline In Washington County [PaEN]