Moshannon Group News

Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club

Issues of Concern in Moshannon Country

Moshannon Group is looking for members who are interested in taking leading roles in any of these listed issues, or any other regional issues of interest to our members. This can include everything from simply gathering information to attending meetings and writing public comments detailing the Sierra Club position on the issues — all depending on your interest and the amount of time you are able to give.

In addition to the volunteers listed in the entries below, contact Moshannon Group Conservation Chair Ron Johnson at 814-355-5434 or greenbowl@verizon.net for more information on getting involved in these or other important conservation issues in Moshannon country.

Spring Creek Canyon

Pristine Spring Creek Canyon, between Bellefonte and State College in Centre County, has been protected from development and suburban sprawl because the area has traditionally been owned by Rockview Penitentiary. The Rockview lands were bisected in 2002 by the new Interstate 99 expressway, and the areas that have been cut off, including Spring Creek Canyon and its surrounding uplands, are in the process of being divested from the Penitentiary and transferred to adjacent Benner Township and Penn State University.

Spring Creek Canyon is one of the best-preserved limestone canyons left in Pennsylvania, with a unique and valuable ecosystem containing rare plants and animals.

Moshannon Group and the Pennsylvania Chapter of Sierra Club have formed an alliance with concerned citizens’ groups for political action and awareness on the issue, known as the Spring Creek Canyon Alliance.

The consensus view of Moshannon Group and its general membership is that Spring Creek Canyon should be protected by an entity that has the funds, expertise, and mandate to hold land in its natural state and never sell it. The Pennsylvania Game Commission (the only state governmental entity to show interest in the land) or a conservancy would meet that criteria.

For more information about this issue, contact Ed Perry at 814-466-7060 or paglobalwarmingoutreach@gmail.com; or Gary Thornbloom at 814-353-3466 or bearknob@verizon.net.

An Op-Ed piece by Moshannon Group Chair Gary Thornbloom, published in the Harrisburg Patriot News on July 22, 2007, details the Group’s position on the issue.

Ed Perry spoke about the Spring Creek Canyon issue on the Allegheny Front radio show in January 2008. Listen to this interview to learn more about Spring Creek Canyon.

Moshannon Group Comments on Spring Creek Master Plan

Read the statement from our Chair and the Spring Creek Canyon Alliance about the Master Plan Meeting

Buffers Are Back!
Support Stream Buffers Today

The PA Campaign for Clean Water has been working with staff at the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to incorporate the Buffers 100 proposal into DEP’s regulations on stormwater and erosion and sediment control. However, they recently learned from Acting DEP Secretary Hanger that DEP has changed its mind and no longer plans to move forward with regulations requiring buffers on all streams. Instead, DEP is pushing a voluntary program that would encourage developers to include buffers on their sites by eliminating state review of stormwater plans for sites that include buffers.

A voluntary program is not good enough. It will have a very limited impact on water quality in our state and is not an adequate substitute for a statewide requirement. DEP already has a voluntary program in place — its Stormwater BMP Handbook includes an incentive program that provides credits to developers who include buffers in their site design. However, this sort of voluntary program will only end up generating buffers on a small number of streams in the state, leaving the vast majority of our streams still at risk of pollution, erosion, and flooding from stormwater runoff.

In addition, DEP’s proposal to eliminate its review of stormwater plans for developers who include buffers violates the Clean Water Act and could lead to even further degradation of our streams, including High Quality and Exceptional Value Streams. Under DEP’s proposal, a stormwater plan submitted under the seal of a professional engineer would be automatically approved with no technical review by DEP staff and no opportunity for public review and comment even if it is clear the plan won’t work and would lead to flooding or stream pollution.

DEP’s (in)action on Stream Buffers is now under review of the Environmental Quality Board.

Supporting documentation

• Protect Our Streams and Our Communities (Detailed Buffers 100 documentation from the PA Campaign for Clean Water)
• Buffers 100 Protects Us and Our Water (Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club)
• PA coalition seeking statewide streamside buffer regulations (Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay)
• State Proposes Weakening Clean Water Protections (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

Centre County Landfill

A private company is proposing an extensive new landfill in forested areas near the villages of Snow Shoe and Moshannon in northwestern Centre County. As initially proposed, it will be the “largest landfill east of the Mississippi,” and will be predominantly used for garbage from New York and New Jersey. The site may also include a new interchange off I–80 and an adjacent industrial park.

Environmental impacts include stresses on Black Moshannon and Moshannon Creeks, odors and air pollution (from the landfill itself, a proposed incinerator, and incoming traffic), significant increases in truck and rail traffic in the region, and other visual and noise pollution issues.

This proposal is currently in the planning and public comment stages. Moshannon Group is dedicated to supporting the grassroots organization People Protecting Communities (PPC), which is coordinating the efforts of many different conservation, recreation, and citizens’ groups in opposition to the landfill.

Join the PPC Dump Alert list to be informed when action is needed and most effective.

For more information, contact Ron Johnson at 814-355-5434, or visit People Protecting Communities’ informative website www.stoplandfill.com.

Allegheny National Forest: Qualifying Wilderness in Peril

The U.S. Forest Service is revising its management plan for the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) in northwestern Pennsylvania, which is the only National Forest in the state. The ANF features vast roadless areas and many pristine ecosystems, which are under growing pressure from resource extraction interests, who are taking advantage of the Bush’s administration’s policies toward public lands. This includes Marcellus shale gas drilling (more on Marcellus shale gas drilling below).

Citizens’ groups have advocated Federal Wilderness protection for eight pristine areas in the ANF, but the U.S. Forest Service has refused to even consider some of those areas, and there is no guarantee of protection for the others.

As of mid-2006, ANF managers have proposed several alternative versions of a required Federal forest management plan, and public comments are being solicited. For more information, visit Friends of Allegheny Wilderness, which is coordinating the efforts of several citizens’ groups.

Send Letters to Support Federal Wilderness Designation

Detailed instructions about sending a letter (including a template to get you started) can be found at the Friends of Allegheny Wilderness home page under “Write Your Members of Congress” (on the right), including finding your Senators’ and Representative’s contact information.

Edit the template letter as you see fit or write your own, add details of why Wilderness is important to you, and send it to your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators Casey and Specter.

If you live in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional district, your letter will be critical — Rep. Glenn Thompson represents the vast majority of the ANF and will be a very important decision-maker in this issue.

Supporting Documentation

• Wilderness Protection in Allegheny National Forest by Kirk Johnson, Friends of Allegheny Wilderness

The Lake Erie Group, which borders the Moshannon Group to the northwest, often holds outings and events in Allegheny National Forest. Members and Friends of Moshannon Group are welcome to participate.

Moshannon Group also hosts occasional outings in this area, with a focus on the issues faced by Allegheny National Forest. Watch this page for details.

Wind Power Development

Politicians and energy companies are beginning to promote the idea of wind power facilities in many different locations on Pennsylvania’s ridgetops. Wind turbines of the type already operating in Somerset County have been proposed for most of the counties in southcentral PA. Such proposals are taking on the aspects of a fad, before the full effects of such facilities are truly known by citizens and their representatives.

Sierra Club favors alternative energy development and is not opposed to the concept of wind power. However, Moshannon Group believes that wind power facilities, or the type being proposed, are not appropriate for our area of the state due to numerous issues with wildlife mortality, forest destruction, and wilderness fragmentation.

Additional supporting information:

• Extensive article on the issues and risks behind industrial wind site development in southcentral PA by Moshannon Group Wildlife Chair Stan Kotala
• Statement on industrial wind site development by the Pennsylvania Biological Survey
• Forest & Forest-interior Impact of Allegheny Ridge Windplant (75 Turbines) by D. Daniel Boone

For more information, contact Stan Kotala at 814-946-8840 or ccwiba@keyconn.net, or visit the citizens’ coalition Save Our Allegheny Ridges (SOAR).

Ridgetop before wind turbines along State Game Lands 198, 2005 — Larger view before turbines · Annotated aerial photo provided by Dan Boone

Same ridgetop showing impacts of wind turbine development, 2008 — Larger view after turbines · Annotated aerial photo provided by Dan Boone

Marcellus Shale Drilling

The recent boom of Marcellus Shale drilling permits and lack of adequate regulations to protect our natural resources raises grave concerns about the effects that this development will have on Pennsylvania’s natural resources. This article by Trout Unlimited provides a good overview of what Pennsylvania needs to do to protect its precious fisheries.

More Information about Marcellus Shale Drilling:

• Tribune-Democrat Reader’ Forum: Audubon group opposes expanded drilling
• How the Marcellus Shale Gas Came to be Tax Exempt (Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct 25, 2009)
• Devonian Marcellus Formation Maps (Penn State Cooperative Extension)
• Riding Out the Rush for Riches (PA Township News, June 2008)
• State Forests Under Attack (Dr. Stan Kotala, Wildlife Chair, Moshannon Group)
• The Halliburton Loophole (New York Times Editorial, November 2009)
• Have we learned from the past? Early problems from the Marcellus Gas Drilling (editorial by K. Davis through PaForestCoalition.org)
• The Marcellus Shale Play: What’s In Store For PA’s Natural Resources? (by Robert M. Pennell, Secretary, Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited, n.d.)
• Responsible Drilling Alliance (new coalition group of environmental-minded conservation groups ranging from sportsmen to community advocates forming to distribute information, strengthen environmental laws and record effects of Marcellus Shale Drilling in the Susquehanna River Basin)

Stay tuned for further information here as it becomes available. If you have suggestions for information to include here, please send them to macwebhead@verizon.net.

I-99 Construction

For the recently-opened superhighway on Bald Eagle Ridge between Altoona and State College, the long-delayed construction process unleashed acid leakage in the ridge's rock formations, leading to major hazards for the area's watersheds and drinking water supplies.

Construction was stopped several times to investigate the problem, while questions have been raised about the environmental assessment process as performed by PennDOT. Various solutions, of questionable safety and effectiveness, have been attempted, while several Pennsylvania communities rejected plans to transport acid rock away from the area.

The photo at left, by Mary Vollero, shows the massive landscape alteration of the freeway project, and the containment apparatus (black vinyl areas at the left and top of the photo) that were hastily constructed to corral the acid unleashed.

Now that the highway is open to traffic, Sierra Club recommends continued oversight of the still incomplete process of ameliorating this toxic acid leakage. There should be public accountability for this environmental disaster, and efforts should be made to prevent the same kinds of bureaucratic and political errors from happening in the future.

See the archive of continuing investigative reports on I-99 construction and its related issues by Mike Joseph of Centre Daily Times.

Corporate Development in Pennsylvania’s State Parks

The state is planning to allow construction and development of private resorts and other for-profit facilities at State Parks around Pennsylvania.

In Moshannon Country, the latest State Park to be proposed for the construction of a "Nature Inn" and tourist information center is Bald Eagle State Park in Centre County, with some talk of plans for Parker Dam State Park in Clearfield County.

The Sierra Club is opposed to the use of Pennsylvania's public lands for profit-making resort operators.

Also in Moshannon Country, proposals were made for a for-profit lodge and other commercial tourist amenities at S.B. Elliott State Park in Clearfield County, which were deemed "unfeasible" by DCNR in late 2007. A proposal for Prince Gallitzin State Park in Cambria County was found to be "unfeasible" by DCNR in 2004. (For more details, see the story from the Pennsylvania Chapter of Sierra Club.)

Similar proposals have been made for the new Erie Bluffs State Park in Erie County, which were defeated by Sierra Club in 2006. (See the article from Erie Times-News.)

These types of projects will utilize public lands for private profit and will set a dangerous precedent for State Parks, Forests, and Game Lands throughout Pennsylvania. For more information, contact Dave Bonta at 814-684-3113 or bontasaurus@yahoo.com.