Susquehanna - Atlantic Chapter

Susquehanna
Sierran
E X P L O R E ,
E N J O Y
A N D
P R O T E C T
T H E
P L A N E T
2013 – A Susquehanna Group Year in Review
In January Amelia LoDolce was awarded the Lynda Spickard Environmental Award. Amelia was the Binghamton Sustainability
Planner, city representative and grant writer for the Binghamton Shade Tree Commission, organizer of the Volunteer Citizen
Pruner Program and a prime mover for the VINES Community Gardens and Urban Farm, and the Binghamton Climate Action
Plan, to name a few of her notable achievements. Following up on her achievements, we invited as speakers, Binghamton
Urban Farm manager, Sean Cummings and Binghamton Shade Tree Commission chair and community garden manager Dick
Andrus to elaborate. In May, Susquehanna Group members conducted a bicycle tour of the VINES farm and gardens.
Under the leadership of the group chair and vice chair, Scott Lauffer, and Erin Riddle, we launched locally “Let’s Turn not
Burn”, the NYS Chapter Renewable Energy Campaign, using a three prong approach: conservation, ban fracking and decrease
fossil fuel usage, and promote production of renewable energy. A certified home energy auditor presented the program
"Saving Energy in the Home/Energy Saving Tips". Partnering with the local NY Citizen Action in phone banking, we invited
new Sierra Club members to attend a screening of Gasland II and to sign a petition to ban fracking in New York State. Three
speakers addressed "Building a Solar Future in Broome County", Elizabeth Broad from Catskill Mountain Keepers, Gay
Canough, owner of ETM Solar Works and member of New York Solar Energy Installers Association, and Scott Lauffer, SG chair
and organizer of the Solar Work Group. We toured the McRey Farm in Glen Aubrey and viewed their solar panel array and
visited Binghamton homes that are utilizing and benefiting from solar panels installed by ETM Solar Works.
The Sierra Club Mission: Explore, Enjoy and Protect
Julian Shepherd led an animal tracking group in Chenango Valley State Park and an Earth Day bicycle tour of Otsiningo Park.
In a June meeting he showed slides and spoke of his ongoing project, A Broome County Natural Areas Inventory. On a global
level, speakers shared experiences on "Volunteering and Hiking in Honduras" and "The Elephant Nature Park, Thailand". We
tabled at Earth Day events, circulated petitions, wrote letters to the editor and elected officials, and called in to radio talk
shows. The manager of the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant, Cathy Young, spoke on the plant’s role in
protecting the Chesapeake Bay waters. She emphasized the need for an environmentalist on the Treatment Plant Board as a
voice for clean water not just economics. Erin Riddle spoke on CAFOs, and relaxing regulation in NYS, the impacts on public
health and the burgeoning Greek yogurt industry. The Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter has filed a lawsuit challenging New York
State's decision as a violation of the Clean Water Act
"Yesterday is Today's Future"
Just a quick look back to 1982 when a local group called The Purity of Water Committee, met to discuss forming a local chapter
of the Sierra Club. Vivian Stevens, who retired this year after 20 plus years as SG Treasurer and Executive Committee member,
was there. The group identified special interests and problems. The concerns then? Very similar to today, including Vestal
drinking water problems, acid rain, identification of aquifers in Broome, legislation prohibiting the manufacture and
distribution of toxic chemicals, pesticide use (NYS had dedicated a large sum to eradicate gypsy moths), alternative energy
sources, and an inventory of sites in Broome County important for wildlife or other reasons. Two weeks later they met with
Atlantic Chapter members from Albany for a Q&A session on issues: toxics transportation, an energy program, The Clean Air
Act and others. On April 1, 1982 a vote was taken on a name: Susquehanna Group of the Sierra Club!
--Fiske Hanson
SIERRA CLUB SUSQUEHANNA GROUP
January 2014
A Solar Future for Broome and Tioga
Counties
Susquehanna Group Contact Information
Susquehanna Group- Sierra Club
PO Box 572
Endicott, NY 13760
http://newyork.sierraclub.org/susquehanna
Executive Committee 2014
Chair
Scott Lauffer (607) 341-3746
[email protected]
Vice Chair
Erin Riddle (607) 372-5503
[email protected]
Secretary
Fiske Hanson, (607) 772-1236
[email protected]
Treasurer
Chandra Nash (607) 786-9684
[email protected]
Chapter
Delegate
Jeff Bohner (607) 772-8304
[email protected]
Conservation Julian Shepherd (607) 722-9327
Chair
[email protected]
Political Chair Allan Hochberg (607) 770-6635
[email protected]
Webmaster
Jack Davis (570)553-2081
[email protected]
Newsletter
Editor
Kathy Cronin (607) 621-7981
[email protected]
A solar energy work group has been formed as a result
of the October Susquehanna Group meeting. Thanks to
Gay Canough of ETM Solar Works in Endicott, Adam
Flint who spearheaded a green energy roundtable that
will encompass local green initiatives, and the many
enthusiastic volunteers who have participated so far.
The group has partnered with Binghamton Regional
Sustainability Coalition, Cornell Cooperative Extension,
Catskill Mountainkeeper, and Revitalize Tioga, with
more expected.
Three initiatives have begun:
1. A solarize program, modeled after existing programs,
will offer group purchasing rates for residential or
commercial photovoltaic installations through ETM
Solar. The hope is to make this available in both
Broome and Tioga counties. A six week signup period is
planned beginning in March and will consist of a series
of workshops. The target is 75 customers; consider
being one as solar is now very affordable and good for
the planet.
2. Locating a 5-megawatt power plant at the BAE site
in Westover. The Town of Union has solicited input
from the community on initiatives for flood restoration.
The BAE site was flooded in 2011 and is scheduled to
be dismantled by the Air Force. A solar plant makes
perfect sense in a flood plain, as the solar panels could
be built high enough to withstand any future flooding.
Consider contacting Senator Schumer’s office to push
for the demolition and support for the solar plant. See
http://www.thereunionproject2020.com/
3. Net Metering or Community Solar – Legislation is needed to afford greater certainty for this in New York.
Currently, remote net metering allows commercial solar installations to sell up to 2 megawatts of solar power to
customers, but only 25 kilowatts is allowed for residential installations. Increasing the amounts for both would
provide more options to residents who can’t install solar, greatly expanding the use of solar in the state.
2014 could be the year that renewable energy takes a big leap forward in our area. Other states and communities
are ahead in renewables, but there is no reason why we can’t become a leader (see what Germany has
accomplished with less sunlight). The entire state needs to get moving in the right direction on renewable energy,
with or without government leading the way. If you are interested in working on any of these initiatives, please
contact me.
--Scott Lauffer
For more information visit:
http://www.etmsolar.com/
https://newyork2.sierraclub.org/content/chapter-policy-renewable-energy
http://thesolutionsproject.org/splash/about.html
SIERRA CLUB SUSQUEHANNA GROUP
January 2014
Water Monitoring Program
Political Activity in 2013
Concern about the effects of fracking on our water supplies
has led the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club to set up the
Water Sentinels program.
This program comprises
volunteers who regularly collect water samples, usually
from streams, and test them for contaminants that signify
pollution events.
The Susquehanna Group has been
particularly active in this effort as we are located in a
prime area for fracking.
The Susquehanna Group Executive Committee
endorsed Teri Rennia for Mayor of Binghamton,
New York in fall 2013. We were pleased to support
a candidate with a positive environmental record.
Our group sent out a detailed questionnaire and
reviewed the backgrounds of both candidates.
Rennia provided detailed answers to both our
questionnaire and an interview. Scott Lauffer,
group chair, and Allan Hochberg, new political
chair, appreciated the opportunity to contact all
eligible Susquehanna Group voters to urge them to
vote for Rennia and help with her campaign. The
Susquehanna Group of the Sierra Club looks
forward to remaining active in the many local
November 2014 races.
--Allan Hochberg
After receiving training from The Alliance of Aquatic
Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) based at Dickinson
College in Pennsylvania, “sentinels” are armed with a
meter that reads conductivity and dissolved solid
materials, and assigned one or more streams or rivers
(sometimes wells) to monitor. Conductivity measures
most inorganic materials in water, including road salt.
These materials are usually present in relatively low
amounts in our streams, except during spring runoff.
Volunteers sample water supplies every few weeks, and
twice a year send in samples for quality control and
additional analysis for deep groundwater contaminants.
Quality control involves checking field conductivity
measurements using a laboratory instrument at
Binghamton University. These samples are then sent to a
certified chemical analysis company for determination of
barium and strontium (non-radioactive) content, key
indicators of deep groundwater contamination. Currently
fracking is not taking place in New York State, but
sampling is being done now to establish a pre-fracking
baseline in case it does happen. In addition, several
sampling sites in the Southern Tier are streams or rivers
whose headwaters are in Pennsylvania, where fracking is
now widespread.
Our group now has over 30 volunteers, usually working in
teams of two, who sample about 30 streams and rivers
(many volunteers test more than one site). These sites are
mainly in Broome and Chenango counties, but some are in
Tioga, Cortland, and Otsego counties. Scott Lauffer in
Binghamton and T. J. Moorhead in Norwich coordinate the
volunteers, Julian Shepherd performs quality control at
Binghamton University, and Sue Hall and Trinity Boisvert
manage a database. The chapter effort is coordinated by
Arthur Kuijpers and Jessica Helm; they organize weekly
conference calls of leaders and occasional meetings for
training and updating volunteers. There are other groups
involved in water sampling, notably the Upper
Susquehanna Basin Coalition and Trout Unlimited, and
efforts are being made to coordinate with them.
--Julian Shepherd
SIERRA CLUB SUSQUEHANNA GROUP
Upcoming Meetings & Outings
General meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the third
Tuesday of each month, except July and August.
They are held at Central United Methodist Church,
17 Nanticoke Ave., Endicott, NY. The public is
welcome.
February 8 (Saturday) – Outing to Chenango
Valley State Park, “Animal Tracks”, Julian
Shepherd,
Biology
Professor,
Binghamton
University - meet at the parking area by the beach
at 9:00 AM, will last about 2-2 ½ hours
February 18 – “Wolves, Why they are Important”
- George Catalano, Bioengineering Professor,
Binghamton University
March 18 - “New York Forests – An Endangered
Species?” - Jerry Michael, New York Forest
Owners Association
April 15 - “The Impact of Climate Change on the
Global Food Supply” - Richard Rehberg, Professor
Emeritus, Political Science, Binghamton University
May 20 - “Green Parking” - Elizabeth Way,
Consultant to Green Parking Council, Certificate in
Sustainability Analytics, Columbia University
January 2014
Susquehanna Group Sierra Club
PO Box 572
Endicott, NY 13760
Recommended Sierra Club “Green Reads”:
Material World, A Global Family Portrait Photography by Peter Menzel, Text by Charles Mann
My Story as Told by Water by David James Duncan
The Quest for Environmental Justice, Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution Edited by Robert D.
Bullard, Foreword by Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy
Nukespeak, The Selling of Nuclear Technology from the Manhattan Project to Fukushima
30th Anniversary Edition by Stephen Hilgartner, Richard C. Bell and Rory O’Connor
Join our email list and “like” us on
Facebook!
For more information on national Sierra Club:
visit http://www.sierraclub.org
If you are not on the Susquehanna Group email list, you
are not receiving updates and notices about upcoming
events and activities. Email [email protected] to be
added to the list. You can also “like” us on Facebook search for “Susquehanna Group of the Sierra Club.”
For more information on the Sierra Club Atlantic
Chapter (New York State);
visit http://newyork2.sierraclub.org
SIERRA CLUB SUSQUEHANNA GROUP
January 2014