Thursday, October 10, 2024

Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community Receives Grant To Strengthen Communications and Community Engagement Initiatives

On October 10, the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) announced the receipt of a grant for $74,539.19 from the Ohio River Valley Participatory Fund. 

This funding will be used to enhance our organization to better serve our community through strategic investment in employee benefits, increased operational capacity, and the acquisition of essential equipment for our communications and community engagement efforts.

“This support from the Ohio River Valley Participatory Fund comes at a critical time,” said Hilary Starcher-O'Toole, executive director of BCMAC. “This funding will allow us to host more engaging events and produce high-quality content that resonates with our community. With these new resources, we can better inform and empower residents, helping us further our mission of advocating for a healthier, safer environment for all.”

BCMAC is grateful  for this partnership, which will enable us to better respond to the pressing needs of Beaver County residents and ensure our long-term sustainability as an organization.

The Ohio River Valley Participatory Fund supports groups serving northern Appalachian communities that have been adversely impacted by the fossil fuel industry. 

This intermediary fund is deeply rooted in the region, housed at the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, and guided by a Steering Committee of nonprofit leaders. 

The Fund provides grants to nonprofit groups that are helping impacted communities address environmental, health, democracy, justice, movement-building, and economic development goals. 

Current grant offerings are focused on small to medium-sized groups working in eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia.

The Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community seeks to protect the residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania, with emphasis on those in Beaver County, by informing them about the health, safety, environmental and economic impacts of fracking infrastructure, including the petrochemical buildout; and by supporting sustainable alternatives to carbon-based energy sources and economic development strategies in Beaver County. 

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 12 [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 87 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 12 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

Related Articles This Week:

-- Pennsylvania Voters Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Regulations On Fracking, New Poll Finds  [PaEN] 

-- Sen. Bartolotta, Sen. Yaw Announce Bill To Withhold Gas Drilling Impact Fees To Municipalities That Set More Protective Standards On Natural Gas Development Than State Law, And While There Is a Legal Challenge To Local Restrictions  [PaEN] 

-- Saint Vincent College Study Finds Counties With Shale Gas Fracking Wells Using Chemicals That Target Certain Hormones Have Greater Incidence Of Pre-Term Births, Low Birth Weights     [PaEN] 

-- The Derrick: PUC Considering Emergency Order To Have Aqua Pennsylvania Take Over 6 Rhodes Estate Water Companies [Fallout Continues From Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill 15 Months Ago In Venango County]  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Begins Accepting Applications For New Methane Reduction Grants To Plug Conventional Oil, Gas Wells Oct. 16  [PaEN] 

-- Evangelical Environmental Network Delivers Over 36,000 Comments From Pro-Life Christians To Gov. Shapiro, DEP In Support Of Strong Oil & Gas Industry Methane Emission Controls  [PaEN]

-- Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community Receives Grant To Strengthen Communications and Community Engagement Initiatives   [PaEN]  

-- Beaver County Residents Invited To Join An Oct. 23 In-Person Tour Of Shale Gas Fracking Sites & Infrastructure In Washington County And Discover Its Costs  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Proposed Air Quality General Permit (GP-16) Covering Gaseous Fuel-Fired Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines  [Copy Of Documents ]

-- Team PA & Clean Air Task Force Convene Leaders To Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Of Industrial Decarbonization; DOE Provides Update On Decarbonization Investments In PA  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Winter Outlook: Adequate Power Supplies Available Under Normal Conditions; PJM Delays Next Power Auction After Prices Spike  [PaEN] 

-- Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community Urges EPA To Move Forward With Strong Regulation Of Vinyl Chloride Under Federal Toxic Substances Control Act, While Calling For A Ban  [PaEN] 

-- EPA Files $4.2 Million Settlement Of Air Pollution Violations For 2019 Philadelphia Refinery Explosion, Fire; Public Comments Invited  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- The Energy Age Blog: ‘Amity & Prosperity’ By Eliza Griswold Thrust Fracking In Washington County, PA Into The National Spotlight 

-- Observer-Reporter: ‘Amity And Prosperity’ Book By Eliza Griswold Thrust Fracking [And Its Environmental & Health Impacts In] Washington County, Into National Spotlight  [PDF of Article]  [Part 5] 

-- Observer-Reporter: 20 Years On, Fracking’s Potential Health Impacts Eyed  [Part 4]  [PDF of Article

-- Observer-Reporter Letter: There’s Another Side To The 'Shale Gas Revolution'  [PaEN]

-- KDKA: Saint Vincent College Study Drills Down On Relationship Between Fracking Chemicals And Adverse Birth Outcomes

-- KDKA: Penn Township Residents Voice Concerns About Potential Zoning Changes To Allow More Industrial Development, Gas Facilities In Westmoreland County

-- Environmental Health Project: Health Professional’s Toolkit On Oil & Gas Development Health Impacts 

--Washington & Jefferson College: October Marks 20th Anniversary Of Marcellus Shale In Appalachia

-- Observer-Reporter Editorial: Use Reason With Fracking

-- The Economist: The Shale Revolution Helped Make America’s Economy Great  [‘It’s Like A Giant Factory Producing Energy’]  [PDF of Article

-- Spotlight PA: No One Is Using $2.6 Billion Hydrogen, Natural Gas Tax Credit, Shapiro Wants To Rewrite The Law To Boost Electricity Production

-- Utility Dive: Possible PJM Market Changes Could Lower Near-Term Capacity Prices, But Ultimately Give Rise To Higher Prices For A Longer Period Of Time - Morgan Stanley

-- The Allegheny Front - Kara Holsopple: New Guidelines Center The Needs Of People With Disabilities During Petrochemical Disasters 

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: EPA Reaches $4.2 Million Settlement, Largest Of Its Kind, Over 2019 Philadelphia Refinery Explosion  [Includes Copy Of Proposed Settlement]

-- WHYY - Sophia Schmidt: EPA Reaches Historic $4.2 Million Settlement Over 2019 South Philly Refinery Explosion, Fire

-- AP:  EPA Reaches $4.2 Million Settlement Over 2019 Explosion, Fire At Philadelphia Refinery

-- WPXI: Cranberry Twp. Families Left With Unanswered Questions After Natural Gas Leak Complaints From 70 Homes 

-- WPXI: Small Natural Gas Leaks Found In More Than 30 Homes In Cranberry Twp., Butler County

[Posted: October 10, 2024]  PA Environment Digest


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