Awards/Recognition
-- Westmoreland Conservation District Honors Bill & Chelsey Smail As Farmers Of The Year, Turtle Creek Watershed Association As J. Roy Houston Conservation Partnership Award Winner [PaEN]
-- Wildlife Leadership Academy Celebrates 20 Years Of Inspiring The Next Generation Of Conservation Leaders Nov. 1 At The Rowland Theater In Philipsburg [PaEN]
-- The Allegheny Front: Westmoreland County Farmer Daryln Brewer Hoffstot’s New Book Is A Love Letter To Her Western PA Farm And The Nature Around Us
Grants
-- DEP Will Start Accepting Applications For 2027 Environmental Education Grants Oct. 5 [PaEN]
Upcoming Events
-- Lehigh Valley’s Wildlands Conservancy Highlights October Experiences, Educational Events
-- Planet Philadelphia Radio: Sept. 18 - How Heatwaves Affect Power Sources, 4:00 p.m.
-- Penn State Extension: Sept. 22 In-Person Pasture Walk With Extension - Pasture Fertility And Livestock, State College, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
-- PA Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Convenes 2026 Shale Insight Conference In Erie Sept. 22-24
-- DEP, PHFA Host Sept. 24 Webinar On New Homeowner Energy Efficiency Loan Program To Reduce Your Energy Costs [PaEN]
-- The Allegheny Front: Sept. 24 & 25 Pittsburgh Film Fest Puts Spotlight On Norfolk Southern Train Derailment, Fight Against Mountain Valley Natural Gas Pipeline
-- Swarthmore College Hosts The Swarthmore Fungi Fest Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 [PaEN]
-- Tribune-Democrat: Fall Foliage Ride To Be Held On Ghost Town Trail Oct. 4 In Cambria County
-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners: Oct. 5 In-Person Municipal Stormwater Forum, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
-- Penn State Extension: Oct. 10 Waterways On Wheels - Swatara Rail Trail, Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
-- Stroud Water Research Center: Watershed Restoration Workshops Oct. 20 & 22 On Riparian Forest Buffers [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension: Oct. 22 Webinar On How Large-Scale Solar Energy Facilities Are Regulated By Local Governments [PaEN]
-- Wildlife Leadership Academy Celebrates 20 Years Of Inspiring The Next Generation Of Conservation Leaders Nov. 1 At The Rowland Theater In Philipsburg [PaEN]
-- Call For Presentations: Bucknell University River Symposium Nov. 6-7 [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension: Nov. 9 Webinar On Large-Scale Solar: Addressing Stormwater And Runoff Impacts, 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.
-- New Freshwater Mussel Conservation Plan To Help Guide Conservation Efforts In Pennsylvania; Nov. 16 Webinar On Mussel Plan [PaEN]
Public Participation
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - September 19 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 59 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 19 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On New Water Quality Permit For Amazon Data Services ADS Berwick Data Center In Salem Twp., Luzerne County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Electric JUNI-NEBU 500 kV Transmission Line Project In Perry County To Serve Large Loads [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Electric Stonehouse Substation & Transmission Line Project In Middlesex Twp., Cumberland County [PaEN]
-- DEP Sets Nov. 5 Hearing On Natural Soil Products Composting Permit Renewal, Modification For The Facility In Frailey Twp., Schuylkill County [PaEN]
-- Republican Herald: DEP Hearing On BRADS Landfill Permit Set For Tuesday [Sept. 15] In St. Clair, Schuylkill County
-- Republican Herald: Trucking Leachate From BRADS Landfill Too Much To Bear, St. Clair Resident Tells DEP At Hearing In Schuylkill County
Programs/Information
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: Wyoming Valley Authority: President’s Order Does Not Eliminate Stormwater Fees Or The Requirements For Municipalities To Reduce Stormwater Pollution
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Editorial: The ‘Rain Tax’ Debate Misses The Point On The Need To Cleanup Stormwater Runoff
-- WNEP: Wyoming Valley Authority: President’s Order Does Not Eliminate Stormwater Fees Or Requirements For Municipalities To Reduce Stormwater Pollution
-- The Citizens’ Voice: Does President’s Order End Stormwater Fees? Local Officials Say State Needs To Act
-- PA Capital-Star: Maryland Officials Grapple With ‘Bizarre’ Presidential Order On Chesapeake Bay Revoking Federal Resources To Support State-Led Efforts To Reduce Nutrient, Sediment Pollution
-- Altoona Mirror: Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee Exceeds Requirement For Sediment Reduction In Blair County
-- Commonwealth Financing Authority Awards $301,473 Solar For Schools Grant To Allegheny Valley School District In Allegheny County For Installation Of Solar Energy Facility
-- The Conversation: At An Old Steel Site In Pittsburgh, Bacteria Evolved To Survive And Eat Industrial Pollution - By Catherine Armbruster, Carnegie Mellon University
-- DCNR: Pennsylvania’s Outdoor Recreation Economy Grows 21% To $20.4 Billion Under Shapiro Administration [Video + Photos from event]
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Editorial: Don’t Lose Sight Of The Value Of A City Tree
-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: Pittsburgh Region Should Look Beyond Industrial Megaprojects For Economic Growth, Report Says
-- WHYY: Some People Rely On Air Quality Forecasts For Their Health, But It’s Hard To Measure [Wildfire Impacts]
-- Western PA Conservancy, Partners To Improve Fish Habitat On South Branch French Creek In Erie County [PaEN]
-- EPA SepticSmart Week: Practical And Proactive Septic System Maintenance Protects Public Health & Reduces Costs
-- KDKA: Young Peregrine Falcon From Pitt’s Cathedral Of Learning Nest Dies After Injury
-- AP: Pennsylvania Dam Removal, New York Dam Failure Highlight Movement To Let US Rivers Run Free [Video]
-- WITF: Keystone Paddlefish Campaign Wants To Bring PA’s Prehistoric Fish Into Clearer Waters
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Guest Essay: Will Pennsylvania’s Bog Turtles Survive The President’s Administration? - By Ted Williams, Outdoor Writers Association Of America
-- PennLive - John Beauge: Game Commission Plans To Destroy Historic Bunkers Used To Store TNT During WW II
A.I./Data Centers
-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - September 21
-- Report: Winter Heating Oil Costs Expected To Increase Over 31%, Electric By 9%, Natural Gas By 5.8% [PaEN]
-- PUC Study Warns Rapid Data Center Growth Will Cause PJM Electric Grid To Fail Reliability Standard In 2027, If No Further Actions Taken [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Issues Maximum Generation, Load Management Alerts For Sept. 17 For Entire Service Area Due To Hot Weather, 35,000 MW Of Maintenance Outages; Requested DOE Emergency Order [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Maximum Generation Alert Remains In Effect For Sept. 18; Emergency Demand Response Customers Activated On Sept. 17 To Increase Reserve Generation Because More Generation Went Offline [PaEN]
-- TribLive Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Are Not Inevitable - By Joan Mukogosi, Data & Society Research Institute and an author of the forthcoming “The AI Factory: Data Centers, Power, and Resistance in Late Industrial Pennsylvania”
-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: 10 New Natural Gas Data Center Power Plants Projects Are Proposed In Southwest PA That Could Double PA’s Power Capacity, Will They Happen?
-- Capital & Main - Audrey Carleton: Pennsylvania’s Amazon Data Center Boom Fueled By A Lucrative Tax Break [Will Cost PA Taxpayers $2 Billion In Revenue By 2031]
-- Tri-State Alert: PA Senate Republican Leader: Legislature Needs To Pick Up Slack From Prior Governors And Boost Energy Production [Nothing About Pausing Data Center Development Causing Spike In Demand]
-- PA House Republican Policy Committee Hearing: ‘Unleash’ Pennsylvania Natural Gas To Lower Costs, Strengthen Reliability [Nothing About Pausing Data Center Development Causing Spike In Demand]
Background On Issues
-- River Reporter Guest Essay: Defending The Delaware River Watershed From Shale Gas Fracking - By Delaware River Frack Ban Climate Action Coalition
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Snapshot - September 12 to 18 [PaEN]
-- DEP - Day 29: Cleanup Of 336,000 Gallon Spill Of Fracking Flowback Fluid From An Uncontrolled Shale Gas Well Continues At INR OPR LLC Pad In Young Twp., Indiana County [PaEN]
-- DEP Confirms Gas Leak In Gathering Pipeline From Conventional Well Owned By Mid East Oil Co. In Unity Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]
-- DEP - Day 5,284: Pressure Testing Confirms Shale Gas Well Casing/Cementing Failure Continues At EXCO Resources PA Well Pad In Sullivan County [PaEN]
-- DEP - Day 1,391: Complaint Inspection Finds BKV OPR LLC Shale Gas Well With Known Casing/Cement Failure Venting Gas In Wyoming County [PaEN]
-- DEP - Day 14: No Action Taken At K Petroleum Inc. Shale Gas Well Site Where Contaminated Water Found Flowing Down Side Of Storage Tank In Washington County [PaEN]
-- The Allegheny Front: Inadequate Safety And Training Led To 2025 Explosion At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County, Federal Safety Board Finds
-- DEP: Shell Petrochemical Plant Fire Resulted In Possible Release Of An Unknown Quantity Of 1,3-Butadiene And Benzene Into The Atmosphere In Beaver County [PaEN - 6.5.25]
-- Inside Climate News Podcast: Jet Fuel In The Water - Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Release In Bucks County
-- River Reporter Guest Essay: Defending The Delaware River Watershed From Shale Gas Fracking - By Delaware River Frack Ban Climate Action Coalition
-- ProPublica: EPA To Loosen Methane Rules, Boosting Pollution From Conventional Oil & Gas Wells
-- TribLive/AP: EPA Eliminates Rule That Limits Planet-Warming Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Power Plants
-- EPA Finalizes Repeal Of 2024 Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Standards
-- New York Times: EPA Expected To Erase Limits On Climate Pollution From Power Plants
-- Financial Times - The Big Read: ‘Offensively Cheap’: Solar Power Is Looking Up, Changing The Facts Of Life For Big Utilities
Visit the DEP Calendar of Events; PA Parks & Forests Foundation’s Events webpage and DCNR’s Calendar of Events for activities happening near you.
Visit DEP’s Teaching Green webpage to learn about more environmental education resources.
Visit the PA Environment Digest Calendar Of Events for more opportunities.
[Posted: September 21, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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