What is the history of Air Pollution in Western PA? Tonight, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 is the inaugural meeting of Groups of 10 at the Monroeville Public Library. Groups of 10 is a project of the Clean Air Council. For details contact Madeline Havrilla, maddiehav247@gmail.com
What's in a lawn? Or rather, why is it sooooo very important to understand why the answers to our civilizational woes are in the soil?
Civilizations rise and fall based on the quality and fertility of their soil. Soil is a living civilization under our feet! Or it ought to be...In the past 10 years in the state of PA, we've not been paying much attention to the state of our soil. Did I say the past ten years? Hmmmm, it's really more like the past 100+ years! With the industrial revolution in the U.S. and around the world, and the rise of the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, on our lawns, on our food and other crops, and the rise of post WWII Agribusiness with a huge influx of genetically modified (GMO) crops, our soil and our physical health has gone to #@^&....Well, you get the idea!
Most recently deep Marcellus Shale exploration to force natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations thousands of feet, miles below us, (aka Fracking) using millions of gallons of our river water....specifically at the moment being planned for right here in Monroeville, PA, and occurring already in the surrounding communities of Penn Township, Murrysville, Upper and Lower Burrell, and elsewhere, we have not been respecting Mother Earth one bit...And with that, our once fertile Western PA soils are not so fertile anymore...Neither are the people for that matter. Studies have shown due to the agrochemicals from industrial farming and the chemicals used, produced and poured into our environment through the air and water in coal, nuclear, and gas exploitation, men's sperm counts are down and women are having trouble conceiving children. It's the issue of hormone disruption. Sexual confusion. Boys being born with undescended testicles or no prostate, and women's sex organs confused...No wonder our youth and young adults are so mixed up! Literally...physically mixed up due to the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals being ingested by mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers...Read the works of Theo Colburn and the Environmental Working Group for more information on this topic (EWG.org)
It's time to go back to no-till farming methods. It's time to do organic farming our front yards, our back yards and our side yards. It's time to vote people in that understand Life on this planet. It's time to reconnect with our Mother. Mother Earth, Panchamama! How? Scroll back to 2009 and 2010 up to the present on this very blog, sustainablemonroeville.blogspot.com, and Extra Extra, Read all about Permaculture and the culture of LIFE rather than us continuing on with the extractive industries and the Culture of DEATH. Our lives as human beings on Planet Earth depend on it!
It's time to wake up and smell the roses...if you can through some of the most polluted air in the world, here in these beautiful hills and valleys of Western PA...where the industrial revolution began and is in the process of ending as we have known it!
Be strong, be empowered, speak up and out whenever you can. Write, call, text, e-mail to your councilperson, your Mayor, your Municipal Manager...And then do it again! Your voice and most of all your VOTE matters!
Meeting Dates for April and May, 2018:
The next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville is on Monday evening, May 7, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library.
The next Monroeville Citizen's Night is Thursday evening, May 10 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
The next council meeting is on May 15, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
All municipal officials, the municipal manager and the Mayor are always invited to Sustainable Monroeville meetings. We're hoping they join us for the month of May and then plan a Town Meeting in council chambers. The citizens of Monroeville sure have a LOT of unanswered questions about how the Seismic Testing was conducted by Geokinetics and what plans Huntley and Huntley has for the development of Marcellus and Utica Shale exploration in our town...
Onward we Go!
Many Blessings for a wonderful springtime and remember to shine your light bright!
The truth will prevail,
Elisa Beck on behalf of
Sustainable Monroeville
Like Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
SustainableMonroeville@gmail.com
Share this blog address with your friends and remember to report stinky air on the SMELLPGH App. Remind your friends to do the same!
Showing posts with label Alternative Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative Energy. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Let's put a Seismic Survey Ordinance in place in Monroeville, PA right away!
Share widely with all of your friends and neighbors!
In case you did not hear the front page Times Express News a few weeks ago, Seismic Testing is planned for Monroeville Pennsylvania. Tim Little, Municipal Manager, met with the gas company Huntley and Huntley to approve this Seismic Testing. Mr. Little was able to approve the Seismic Testing in our Municipality without putting the information in front of the citizens of this municipality because the Municipality of Monroeville does not yet have a law, in our case called an ordinance, on the books yet, to limit these activities.
Individual citizens are being, and have been approached in Monroeville, PA, since April, 2017 by Huntley and Huntley to ask if it is fine to map through seismic testing, for both Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale under their private properties. Please know that you, as a private land owner in Monroeville, or anywhere, can deny the testing.
Grandmother Earth is calling us!
Some breaking fabulous news!
1) On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court affirmed by majority, the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to assure Clean Water and Clean Air for all Pennsylvania citizens.
2) On Monday, July 3, 2017, the borough of Oakmont, PA, held a special meeting and enacted by unanimous vote, a very limiting Seismic Testing ordinance.
3) On July 14, 2017, the Huntley and Huntley and Oil and Gas company with offices in Monroeville, PA "dropped plans to conduct a Seismic survey in Oakmont, PA. Huntley and Huntley had planned to include the borough of Oakmont in the geological seismic testing survey meant to identify potential drilling sites in parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. Huntley and Huntley has made the decision to forgo any seismic survey work altogether, company spokesman Benjamin Komlos said in an email this week." from article in Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 14, 2017. by Jake Flannick titled: Gas drilling company plans for seismic testing in borough
If you'd like to see a similar ordinance, google South Fayette Seismic ordinance to read the ordinance that Oakmont based its seismic testing ordinance on.
If you care about limiting or eliminating chemicals in our water causing hormone disruption, limiting, or eliminating both air and water pollution from the Marcellus Shale industry, please join either or both of these meetings as a supportive observer, or to share your opinion.
Monroeville in its ordinances regulates circuses & peddlers and almost all activities that occur in our municipality. For example, yard sales must be 10 feet from the road. Grass cannot be more than a certain height before our yards are cited.....We must put a seismic ordinance in place, as our municipality does not yet have one!
The following essay was written by an intentionally unnamed individual about the Fracking process:
"This is what has happening in Pennsylvania and all over the world.
The Fracking process:
1. A gas company identifies an area with underground gas.
2. The company leases the right to extract gas from many sites in the area without revealing the risks.
3. The company uses seismic tests to map the locations of underground shale and natural fractures.
4. The company applies for permits to drill and extract gas. Companies will subvert any local zoning laws made by communities to keep fracking out, appeal straight to the federal government and bankrupt municipalities in court. See Grant Twp, PA.
5. The gas company removes all the trees from a 5-10 acre swath to build the "well pad".
6. Initially one or two wells are drilled for every square mile. Eventually there can be 10-12 wells per square mile.
7. First, a vertical well is drilled in the bare ground, cutting through different rock layers and pushing toxic drilling muds into aquifers.
8. A cement casing is poured to protect the groundwater, but casings are fragile and can crack under the extreme pressure of hydraulic fracturing or earthquakes. Eventually the casing will fail, allowing chemicals and gas to leak through the cracks. 6% fail the day they are put in.
9. The horizontal well is then drilled, cutting across natural faults and fractures in the rock. These wells can be up to two miles long.
10. Each Frack= 5 million gallons of water, 1,000 truck trips, 100 tons of toxic chemicals X up to 10 fracks for each well X 4 to 12 wells per pad. This mixture of water, chemicals, and sand are forced into the well under extreme pressure to shatter the shale rock and release the gas.
11. 60-80% of this fluid remains underground contaminating groundwater. The radioactive wastewater and drill cuttings that return to surface are stored in tanks or open pits. Later it will be buried on site, dumped in landfills, injected back underground or into aquifers and they have even illegally dumped at sewage treatment plants.
12. Processing facilities, compressors, and pipelines are built to separate and transport the gas. Pipelines fail, explode, and leak methane into the atmosphere which is 80 times more potent than Co2 as a greenhouse gas.
13. A chemical dryer removes moisture and light oils from the extracted gas using the hazardous chemical 2-butoxyethanol.
14. The gas is compressed before being put into pipelines.
15. Gas is vented out along the pipeline to relieve pressure in the system.
16. Gas is then liquified for export overseas or odorized and delivered to your home.
Some of the most important laws that protect the public don't apply to oil & gas companies due to loopholes put into the Safe Drinking Water Act including community right-to-know laws. We must end this invasive, destructive, and devastating process now! Ban fracking worldwide!!"
Also, if you live in Monroeville, PA, please call and e-mail your councilperson to ask them if they've read the South Fayette and Oakmont ordinances and ask them what their opinion is on adopting this ordinance in Monroeville, PA for the health and wellness of our citizens.
Ward 1: Councilwoman Linda Gaydos, 412-973-1194, gaydos@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 2: Councilman Nick Gresock, 412-215-0524, greson@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 3: Councilman Ron Harvey, 412-856-7978, harver@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 4: Councilman Jim Johns, 412-856-0556, johnsj@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 5: Councilman Paul Caliari, 412-657-9476, caliap@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 6: Councilman Steve Duncan, 412-823-1314, duncas@monroeville.pa.us
Ward 7: Councilman Tom Wilson, 412-491-0455, wilsot@monroeville.pa.us
"Seismic Survey in Monroeville...Residents may experience a Monroeville company, Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration, LLC, conducting what is called a Seismic Survey in their area. A Seismic Survey is not a drilling operation, but it is a process of exploring for natural gas using sound waves to “map” the geological structure of Monroeville at different depths.
This does not necessarily mean there will be drilling, or the process known as “fracking,” in Monroeville. There are many steps that have to be strongly considered before that is to occur in Monroeville, if indeed it does happen. Please read the linked brochure from Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration, LLC which concisely explains the Seismic Survey process.
**Please note the brochure states that the Seismic Survey will begin in June 2017. That period has been delayed to the latter part of 2017.
Additional info:
*Note - This does not necessarily mean that every street on the map and the list will have seismic testing. The areas of Monroeville that may have seismic testing are primarily the south and north areas of Monroeville. "
Thanks,
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Clearing the Air in Monroeville with the Clean Air Council, ProtecT, and Protect Our Children
On July 18, 2017 we'll meet with the Clean Air Council at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church to learn about clean air in Monroeville!
Please note, the meeting will be at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Monroeville, PA.
Happy July everyone! :)
Here's the link with details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByMeKDxLK264SEdpWTVCZ3ZIV2Nhem90TmtRNkF2MnlkQUFv/view
Please note, the meeting will be at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Monroeville, PA.
Happy July everyone! :)
Here's the link with details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByMeKDxLK264SEdpWTVCZ3ZIV2Nhem90TmtRNkF2MnlkQUFv/view
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Tonight, Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Monroeville, PA. Share Widely!
Please join us tonight, Tuesday, July 11, 2017, in the Monroeville Council Chamber at 6:00 PM. Let's talk about preserving the value of our homes and properties!
Share widely with all of your friends and neighbors!
Grandmother Earth is calling us!
Some breaking fabulous news!
1) On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court affirmed by majority, the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to assure Clean Water and Clean Air for all Pennsylvania citizens.
2) On Monday, July 3, 2017, the borough of Oakmont, PA, held a special meeting and enacted by unanimous vote, a very limiting Marcellus ordinance.
3) Please join us tonight, that's Tuesday, July 11, at 6:00 and 7:00 PM for the July 2017 Citizen's Night and Council Meeting, to hear the proposal for a similar very limited Marcellus ordinance for Monroeville, PA.
If you care about limiting or eliminating chemicals in our water causing hormone disruption, limiting, or eliminating both air and water pollution from the Marcellus Shale industry, please join either or both of these meetings as a supportive observer, or to share your opinion.
In case you did not hear the front page Times Express News a few weeks ago, Seismic Testing is being conducted in Monroeville. Tim Little, Municipal Manager met with the gas company Huntley and Huntley to approve this Seismic Testing. Mr. Little was able to approve the Seismic Testing in our Municipality without putting the information in front of the citizens of this municipality because the Municipality of Monroeville does not have a law on the books yet, to limit these activities.
Individual citizens are being, and have been approached since April, 2017 by Huntley and Huntley to ask if it is fine to test for both Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale under their private properties. Please know that you, as a private land owner in Monroeville, or anywhere, can deny the testing.
The following essay was written by an intentionally unnamed individual about the Fracking process:
"This is what has happening in Pennsylvania and all over the world.
The Fracking process:
1. A gas company identifies an area with underground gas.
2. The company leases the right to extract gas from many sites in the area without revealing the risks.
3. The company uses seismic tests to map the locations of underground shale and natural fractures.
4. The company applies for permits to drill and extract gas. Companies will subvert any local zoning laws made by communities to keep fracking out, appeal straight to the federal government and bankrupt municipalities in court. See Grant Twp, PA.
5. The gas company removes all the trees from a 5-10 acre swath to build the "well pad".
6. Initially one or two wells are drilled for every square mile. Eventually there can be 10-12 wells per square mile.
7. First, a vertical well is drilled in the bare ground, cutting through different rock layers and pushing toxic drilling muds into aquifers.
8. A cement casing is poured to protect the groundwater, but casings are fragile and can crack under the extreme pressure of hydraulic fracturing or earthquakes. Eventually the casing will fail, allowing chemicals and gas to leak through the cracks. 6% fail the day they are put in.
9. The horizontal well is then drilled, cutting across natural faults and fractures in the rock. These wells can be up to two miles long.
10. Each Frack= 5 million gallons of water, 1,000 truck trips, 100 tons of toxic chemicals X up to 10 fracks for each well X 4 to 12 wells per pad. This mixture of water, chemicals, and sand are forced into the well under extreme pressure to shatter the shale rock and release the gas.
11. 60-80% of this fluid remains underground contaminating groundwater. The radioactive wastewater and drill cuttings that return to surface are stored in tanks or open pits. Later it will be buried on site, dumped in landfills, injected back underground or into aquifers and they have even illegally dumped at sewage treatment plants.
12. Processing facilities, compressors, and pipelines are built to separate and transport the gas. Pipelines fail, explode, and leak methane into the atmosphere which is 80 times more potent than Co2 as a greenhouse gas.
13. A chemical dryer removes moisture and light oils from the extracted gas using the hazardous chemical 2-butoxyethanol.
14. The gas is compressed before being put into pipelines.
15. Gas is vented out along the pipeline to relieve pressure in the system.
16. Gas is then liquified for export overseas or odorized and delivered to your home.
Some of the most important laws that protect the public don't apply to oil & gas companies due to loopholes put into the Safe Drinking Water Act including community right-to-know laws. We must end this invasive, destructive, and devastating process now! Ban fracking worldwide!!"
Tonight, we plan to propose an extremely conservative fracking, and fracking related activities ordinance for Monroeville, PA.
Thanks,
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Eastern 'Burbs Sustainability Huddle!
Join us this coming Sunday, May 7, 2017 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library in conjunction with the Eastern Burbs Huddle and Monica Joyner to learn about easy ways we can all move into our beyond Sustainable Future. YES.WE. ARE!
No worries, No R.S.V.P. necessary. Come on over with some family and friends, or by yourself!
Facebook Link to the event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1752078305122487/
No worries, No R.S.V.P. necessary. Come on over with some family and friends, or by yourself!
Facebook Link to the event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1752078305122487/
May is exploding with Sustainability events at the Monroeville Public Library!
Please note, Sustainable Monroeville will NOT meet on Monday evening, May 8, 2017 as we will be collaborating with the Eastern Suburbs "Huddle".
MPL sponsored programs in May, 2017 are listed below. I hope to see you in May:) Elisa Beck :)
Backyard Composting
7:00 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Cosponsored by the Garden Club of Monroeville
Join us for a presentation about turning your kitchen scraps and pesticide/herbicide-free lawn clippings into treasure! Since 1998 Ellen C. Keefe has been passionate about teaching others how to recycle and reduce waste by making healthy compost. She also discusses the microscopic structures of compost and recent research regarding the benefits of it.
Ellen Keefe is Executive Director of the nonprofit Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling in Latrobe, PA. Ellen is also a Derry Township Municipal Authority Board Member and was Board Chair for the Latrobe Municipal Authority. She attended Robert Morris University’s School of General Business Administration and Management and is a Certified Recycling Professional. Last year Ellen spoke at Monroeville Library regarding the work of Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling.
Gallery Space
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
The scientific community is essentially unanimous in its conclusion that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels and release of other greenhouse gases, is responsible for a rapid and significant increase in the average global temperature. This warming is leading to retreating glaciers and melting polar ice sheets, phenomena that will threaten water supplies and put coastal regions at risk from rising sea levels. Other environmental changes will disrupt ecological systems and agriculture. We are already seeing more extreme storms, droughts, floods, and outbreaks of disease that only will become worse without a change in our collective behavior.
For the past six years, Dr. Bob Mitchell has been informally researching the science and politics of climate change. He has taught several short courses on the subject, including in the Pitt and CMU Osher programs, and is an active member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. In this talk, Bob will review Earth’s remarkable climate history and provide insights into its likely future. He will then examine the human consequences of a changing climate. Finally, he will discuss technological and policy approaches that offer hope for the future, including meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accords.
Dr. Mitchell has an MS in physics and a PhD in electrical engineering from CMU. His early career work on gas lasers and circuit breakers used much of the same fundamental physics that applies to climate modeling. Later he managed engineering research on automated image analysis with applications in radar, sonar, medicine, and robotics. He retired in 2014 as the industry director of the Army’s collaborative research program in robotics.
Gallery Space
Meet the Beekeeper!
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Come spend some time with Monroeville beekeeper John Yakim. John will show everyone inside a real beehive and answer questions about honeybees, including how they make honey and how the honeybee helps improve our community. We’ll also learn what we can all do to help the bees survive and thrive!
Gallery Space
Elisa Beck:)
LIKE Living Building Challenge Collaborative-Pittsburgh, Sustainable Monroeville, and Transition Pittsburgh on Facebook!
Saturday, February 11, 2017
The Way We Live Documentary Screening with Tom Jefferson LIVE! Monday evening, March 6, 2017 at 7:00 PM. Whole Food Plant Based Pot Luck at 6:00 PM!
Hello and Happy Full Moon! Mark your calendar for the next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville on Monday, March 6, 2017. Get ready for an AMAZING EVENING!
At 6:00 PM we'll have a whole food, plant based pot luck dinner. Please bring your own plate and utensils and we'll pack in, pack out and have a zero waste event! Beginning at 7:00 PM, we'll screen the documentary. The Way We Live, filmed and produced by local Pittsburgh documentary filmmaker and photographer, Tom Jefferson. Mr. Tom Jefferson has been involved in filming and educating the world wide community about climate change and social justice related to EcoWarriorship for a very long time. Here's the link to the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0YDgBxLz3s Tom will join us for Q&A and brief discussion before and after the film. We'll also explore local ACTION opportunities.
Sustainable Monroeville meetings are free and open to the public. There is a $5.00 or more suggested donation for this meeting to compensate Mr. Jefferson for his amazingness.
Blessings again and again for a Happy Healthy 2017 for all of us!
Elisa Beck:)
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
At 6:00 PM we'll have a whole food, plant based pot luck dinner. Please bring your own plate and utensils and we'll pack in, pack out and have a zero waste event! Beginning at 7:00 PM, we'll screen the documentary. The Way We Live, filmed and produced by local Pittsburgh documentary filmmaker and photographer, Tom Jefferson. Mr. Tom Jefferson has been involved in filming and educating the world wide community about climate change and social justice related to EcoWarriorship for a very long time. Here's the link to the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0YDgBxLz3s Tom will join us for Q&A and brief discussion before and after the film. We'll also explore local ACTION opportunities.
Sustainable Monroeville meetings are free and open to the public. There is a $5.00 or more suggested donation for this meeting to compensate Mr. Jefferson for his amazingness.
Blessings again and again for a Happy Healthy 2017 for all of us!
Elisa Beck:)
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
We LOVE YOU Royal Dutch Shell and our Regenerative Spirit Meeting and Name Change on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 7:00 PM
What, we LOVE YOU, Royal Dutch Shell? Yes, we do! Why? I have taken to saying thank you each (spell check changed each to ouch!) and every time I use or wear a piece of plastic or something that has plastic in it. Like what? The plastic Apple keypad I'm typing on, the coating on the zipper on the jacket I'm wearing. The table my computer rests on. The pen sitting on my desk, the cover of the holiday cards I sent out, and the list goes on and on. I've taken to saying Thank You Shell each and every time I throw away a piece of plastic....a plastic bag, a plastic carry out food container.
The first job we have is to raise our awareness about how plasticized our entire culture has become...., thank Shell for this plastic production, and then as we shift into the REGENERATIVE Future which is NOW, we will see clearly what our work is.
We have the technologies for our Regenerative Future. WE MUST HAVE the WILL AS WELL. So let's get this party started with the New Year of 2017, with Joy, Gratitude, and most of all Deep Deep Compassion for ourselves and for all others, including Royal Dutch Shell for providing us with the now old and outdated technology called "Cracker" Plants and Plastic Production. From now on, Shell will be researching and Producing our Regenerative Future as Collaborators with those of us who know how! Let's Go!
Happy New Year y'all. May we be blessed in this coming year with an instantaneous shift towards our REGENERATIVE FUTURE NOW! Not simply Sustainability, but Regeneration! The next meeting of Sustainable/Regenerative Monroeville (name change budding:) will be on Monday evening, January 9, 2017 in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library at 7:00 PM. We'll be welcoming in the New Year with a Regeneration of the Spirit Yoga Gathering and Regenerative Intentions Session that we'll all participate in facilitated by the founder of Regenerative Monroeville, Elisa Beck. Free and Open to all...Donations graciously accepted to be donated to a charity of our choice :)
The first job we have is to raise our awareness about how plasticized our entire culture has become...., thank Shell for this plastic production, and then as we shift into the REGENERATIVE Future which is NOW, we will see clearly what our work is.
We have the technologies for our Regenerative Future. WE MUST HAVE the WILL AS WELL. So let's get this party started with the New Year of 2017, with Joy, Gratitude, and most of all Deep Deep Compassion for ourselves and for all others, including Royal Dutch Shell for providing us with the now old and outdated technology called "Cracker" Plants and Plastic Production. From now on, Shell will be researching and Producing our Regenerative Future as Collaborators with those of us who know how! Let's Go!
Happy New Year y'all. May we be blessed in this coming year with an instantaneous shift towards our REGENERATIVE FUTURE NOW! Not simply Sustainability, but Regeneration! The next meeting of Sustainable/Regenerative Monroeville (name change budding:) will be on Monday evening, January 9, 2017 in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library at 7:00 PM. We'll be welcoming in the New Year with a Regeneration of the Spirit Yoga Gathering and Regenerative Intentions Session that we'll all participate in facilitated by the founder of Regenerative Monroeville, Elisa Beck. Free and Open to all...Donations graciously accepted to be donated to a charity of our choice :)
Wear loose comfortable clothing, and bring along a Yoga Mat if you'd like to join us on the floor! :)
Mark your calendar for Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM and plan to make your voice heard with your opinion of the proposed Shell Oil "Cracker" Plant at the next Potter Township government meeting in Monaca, PA. Carpools will be happening. If you are leaving from Monroeville and would like to carpool, contact us at sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Blessings and more Blessings for all of us in this amazing New Year! Here's a BIG toast with wheat grass juice to our Regenerative, Resilient Future NOW!
Elisa Beck:)
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com (yup, the old name is still in the logo and e-mail.....ya know any graphic artists who'd like to help out for updates?!:)
Mark your calendar for Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM and plan to make your voice heard with your opinion of the proposed Shell Oil "Cracker" Plant at the next Potter Township government meeting in Monaca, PA. Carpools will be happening. If you are leaving from Monroeville and would like to carpool, contact us at sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com
Blessings and more Blessings for all of us in this amazing New Year! Here's a BIG toast with wheat grass juice to our Regenerative, Resilient Future NOW!
Elisa Beck:)
sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com (yup, the old name is still in the logo and e-mail.....ya know any graphic artists who'd like to help out for updates?!:)
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Free Spirit Yoga and Great Intentions Setting on Monday, January 9, 2017. :) You Are Invited!
Happy New Year y'all. May we be blessed in this coming year with an instantaneous shift towards our REGENERATIVE FUTURE NOW! Not simply Sustainability, but Regeneration! The next meeting of Sustainable/Regenerative Monroeville (name change budding:) will be on Monday evening, January 9, 2017 in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library at 7:00 PM. We'll be welcoming in the New Year with a Regeneration of the Spirit Yoga Gathering and Regenerative Intentions Session that we'll all participate in facilitated by the founder of Regenerative Monroeville, Elisa Beck. Free and Open to all...Donations graciously accepted to be donated to a charity of our choice :)
Wear loose comfortable clothing, and bring along a Yoga Mat if you'd like to join us on the floor! :)
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Our Regenerative Future Musings, Thanks, and Happy December y'all! :)
Hello there and Happy December from all of us at Sustainable Monroeville! Sustainable Monroeville meets the first Monday evening of the month in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Be sure to check this blog regarding specific meeting dates. Meetings are free and open to the public.
We are excited as we move farther into the 2000's. Happy 2017 everybody! This will be a year of Collaboration and Action. A year of knowing we are going to create this New Economy and New Earth with one another. How exciting! Thanks and Blessings to Lois Drumheller, former Monroeville Councilwoman who hatched the Monroeville Food Garden a number of years ago that supplied 500 pounds of fresh produce to four local food banks for three years. Thanks to Jeff Newman and Elizabeth Lynch for consulting on the design of the garden. Thanks again to Lois Drumheller for turning the garden for the past few years into a pollinator garden for birds, bees, butterflies and beyond, knowing the vegetable garden can come back any season once we have a few more volunteers lined up. How about it Mr. Pottinger at Gateway High School?! Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers and speakers that have graced us with your presence over the past seven years. Thanks to Pam Barroso for working on the Monroeville Certified Sustainable Community piece. We still have a long way to go on that one, so if you or anyone you know is interested in spearheading that effort, we will be grateful! Contact us at sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com.
Thanks to all of you who attended our December 2016 meeting. The whole food plant based pot luck dinner was absolutely delicious! Thanks Adam Tuznik of Clean Water Action for educating us about all of the projects Clean Water Action is involved in and about the issues occurring in Potter Township, Beaver County, PA one half hour north of Pittsburgh, PA and sharing the same AIRSHED as Pittsburgh regarding the proposed Shell Oil Petrochemical "Cracker" Plant. Comments regarding this project and the AIR and WATER permits can be made until December 26 and submitted to Nora Alwine, the Social Justice Coordinator at the PA DEP office in Homestead. Go to the Clean Water Action web site for submission details.
We continue to embrace these challenging times as a gift from the universe. There can be dissonance as with paradigm shifting and change comes shifting energy.
Some observations about technologies from the 1900's that seem to be lingering....On a recent visit to Beaver County, PA about seven miles from the proposed Cracker site also along the Ohio River we came upon the Shippingport Community Park just across the street from stacks from one of the chemical plants and the cooling towers of the Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant.
This playground is adjacent or perhaps part of the Shippingport Community Park. The playground has a CLOSED sign on the very tall fence surrounding it. We wonder why this playground is closed? Could it be that the area is too toxic for children to play in the smokey clouds of two chemical plants and a nuclear power plant?
The image on the sign of the Shippingport Community Park includes the nuclear power plant cooling tower in the scene. The playground on this site is closed. We wonder why?
The view from the park entrance.
When is the last time you took a field trip? I've been told we've probably taken enough field trips to Potter township this past month, yet I feel deep in my heart and soul, we are just beginning to get to know our northern neighbors. Take a look at the PublicHerald.org website to learn about what is going on with the PA DEP regarding the Marcellus Shale Industry and water pollution in our area in Western Pennsylvania. Two investigative reporters analyzed complaints that have come in to the DEP since 2010 and their observations have been eye opening to say the least. Take a look at the PA DEP web site and look at the documents Shell Oil has submitted to the PA DEP for approval. Beware, you may be astounded. I certainly was even after spending three days and many hours in hearings and field trips to Potter Township this past month. The old paradigm corridor in Beaver Township must be a thing of the past. Moving into the Regenerative Restorative future, let's work together to forge, to reacquaint ourselves with Panchamama, Mother Earth. We are a part of nature, no longer apart from nature.
As we move into 2017, may we all be blessed with abundant health and wellness and the ability to understand that for the near future we must all be detoxifying our inner ecosystems on a daily basis as our outer ecosystem here in Western PA, aka the "environment" is way more polluted than we realize. Here in Western PA, some types of Air and Water pollution have been reduced, but there is so much more to do. So, the addition of another polluting plant, the one being PROPOSED by Royal Dutch Shell, one that would be the largest in North America, is not part of the Regenerative, Restorative equation.
May we all have the intestinal fortitude to feel all we are grateful for deeply and to work together as we move into 2017 :)
Blessings and More Blessings,
Elisa Beck :)
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
We are excited as we move farther into the 2000's. Happy 2017 everybody! This will be a year of Collaboration and Action. A year of knowing we are going to create this New Economy and New Earth with one another. How exciting! Thanks and Blessings to Lois Drumheller, former Monroeville Councilwoman who hatched the Monroeville Food Garden a number of years ago that supplied 500 pounds of fresh produce to four local food banks for three years. Thanks to Jeff Newman and Elizabeth Lynch for consulting on the design of the garden. Thanks again to Lois Drumheller for turning the garden for the past few years into a pollinator garden for birds, bees, butterflies and beyond, knowing the vegetable garden can come back any season once we have a few more volunteers lined up. How about it Mr. Pottinger at Gateway High School?! Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers and speakers that have graced us with your presence over the past seven years. Thanks to Pam Barroso for working on the Monroeville Certified Sustainable Community piece. We still have a long way to go on that one, so if you or anyone you know is interested in spearheading that effort, we will be grateful! Contact us at sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com.
Thanks to all of you who attended our December 2016 meeting. The whole food plant based pot luck dinner was absolutely delicious! Thanks Adam Tuznik of Clean Water Action for educating us about all of the projects Clean Water Action is involved in and about the issues occurring in Potter Township, Beaver County, PA one half hour north of Pittsburgh, PA and sharing the same AIRSHED as Pittsburgh regarding the proposed Shell Oil Petrochemical "Cracker" Plant. Comments regarding this project and the AIR and WATER permits can be made until December 26 and submitted to Nora Alwine, the Social Justice Coordinator at the PA DEP office in Homestead. Go to the Clean Water Action web site for submission details.
We continue to embrace these challenging times as a gift from the universe. There can be dissonance as with paradigm shifting and change comes shifting energy.
Some observations about technologies from the 1900's that seem to be lingering....On a recent visit to Beaver County, PA about seven miles from the proposed Cracker site also along the Ohio River we came upon the Shippingport Community Park just across the street from stacks from one of the chemical plants and the cooling towers of the Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant.
This playground is adjacent or perhaps part of the Shippingport Community Park. The playground has a CLOSED sign on the very tall fence surrounding it. We wonder why this playground is closed? Could it be that the area is too toxic for children to play in the smokey clouds of two chemical plants and a nuclear power plant?
The image on the sign of the Shippingport Community Park includes the nuclear power plant cooling tower in the scene. The playground on this site is closed. We wonder why?
The view from the park entrance.When is the last time you took a field trip? I've been told we've probably taken enough field trips to Potter township this past month, yet I feel deep in my heart and soul, we are just beginning to get to know our northern neighbors. Take a look at the PublicHerald.org website to learn about what is going on with the PA DEP regarding the Marcellus Shale Industry and water pollution in our area in Western Pennsylvania. Two investigative reporters analyzed complaints that have come in to the DEP since 2010 and their observations have been eye opening to say the least. Take a look at the PA DEP web site and look at the documents Shell Oil has submitted to the PA DEP for approval. Beware, you may be astounded. I certainly was even after spending three days and many hours in hearings and field trips to Potter Township this past month. The old paradigm corridor in Beaver Township must be a thing of the past. Moving into the Regenerative Restorative future, let's work together to forge, to reacquaint ourselves with Panchamama, Mother Earth. We are a part of nature, no longer apart from nature.
As we move into 2017, may we all be blessed with abundant health and wellness and the ability to understand that for the near future we must all be detoxifying our inner ecosystems on a daily basis as our outer ecosystem here in Western PA, aka the "environment" is way more polluted than we realize. Here in Western PA, some types of Air and Water pollution have been reduced, but there is so much more to do. So, the addition of another polluting plant, the one being PROPOSED by Royal Dutch Shell, one that would be the largest in North America, is not part of the Regenerative, Restorative equation.
May we all have the intestinal fortitude to feel all we are grateful for deeply and to work together as we move into 2017 :)
Blessings and More Blessings,
Elisa Beck :)
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
PROPOSED Shell Oil Cracker Plant DEP Permit Hearing Meeting: December 15, 2016 PA DEP meeting and So Many Thanks!
We are so blessed to live in Western PA. The landscape of our region is naturally beautiful. We enjoy the benefits of a city with the charm of many, many small towns and friendly people in and surrounding Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. We are blessed. My family is blessed. We are healthy, vital and all participate fully in life!
Within our blessings there is some dissonance. Perhaps I notice this dissonance a bit more, as I am not a Western PA native. I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of the D.C. area. I've lived in Western PA for my whole married life, that's 26 years. I've chosen to let loose and talk about what I've been feeling. Juxtaposed with the beauty within us and surrounding us is a veil. Just below the veil sits not only a legacy of raped land and waters and surely raped people. That legacy has not ended. It is happening in the present moment and is real right now. It is still happening today and we are all to some degree unknowing participants. We sit and stand in the same room as others disassociated from our fellow human beings while focussing on our electronic devices. We forget about the beauty and necessity of simply BEING in the landscape, the great outdoors and we stay inside for most of our days. We are addicted to oil and gas. We drive our cars, fly in planes, wear plastic vegan shoes and clothing, eat meat, chicken, fish, and dairy foods. We poop and pee into a piped system that was designed a long time ago and does not work. It carries what leaves our bodies away, away into the rivers. What is away anyway? We're about to support a billions of dollars new "pipe" system to comply with a consent decree that makes no sense in our new world.
Our new world? What do you mean by that? We are living at this moment in time at the end of a 26,000 year cycle. The end of the Mayan calendar and the end of many eras according to many spiritual and religious traditions. We have the opportunity right NOW to shift our awareness and consciousness in ways that were not possible at other times in history or herstory.
We have the opportunity to change the story to one of complete gratitude, peace, and abundance. The opportunity to repair the world beginning with ourselves, our own inner ecosystems and working outward into our landscape. Some of us are BEING the CHANGE we with to see in this world NOW!
How? Glad you asked!
We are beginning to connect the dots in the Pittsburgh region. Those of us who have been working under the radar, away from what some could consider 'real' jobs, outside of the institutions of health care, education and government, those of us who have been working on Transition Town (check out Rob Hopkins and the Transition Town Movement he spearheaded in Totnes, England in 2005, perhaps the white man and women's version of re-discovering all of our indigenous roots?!:) projects are arriving. A few of these projects I have been directly facilitating. Two example projects are Sustainable Monroeville (sustainablemonroeville.blogspot.com) and the Schwartz Living Market (http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com out of which has just hatched the For One Peace Artist Cooperative) process. These Transition Town, Regenerative, Independent processes along with other processes in the area after about six years have reached critical mass and are bearing fruit. Greg Boulos and his wife's Blackberry Meadows Farm are producing fresh Community Supported Agriculture for community and teaching people how to grow their own food. Mark Dixon of YERT.org fame has been active in numerous projects in the region including creating a film for Rachel Carson's 50th Anniversary last year with Mayor of Forest Hills' Patricia de Marco. Jeff Newman has started a cooperative called Steel City Soils in Braddock, PA and is demonstrating how organic produce can be turned into the best black gold there is on the planet! Kate O'Brien is showing how that black gold compost is used on a private Mckeesrocks, PA household lawn to grow some of the largest and most productive gardens including the most enormous sunflowers I ever did see! Maren Cooke's monthly Sustainability Salons just keep getting better and better and are educating more and more people about our Regenerative Future. Many more examples are exploding all around the Pittsburgh region!
And we are figuring out as a culture how to move beyond our addictions and heal from the inside out. As a neurodevelopmental optometrist specializing in optometric vision therapy, I understand deeply what is transpiring and what is possible with the WILL of our Human Spirit, and I am super excited about this moment in time as we are lifting the veil of dis-ease and morphing ourselves and the planet into the EDEN our planet is!
What is the secret? Positivity! Centering in our hearts, taking care of ourselves in ways we used to think were selfish, and sharing all we can with others all the time. That's it. That simple. That profound!
And now the deep, deep thanks for what is happening now to those that continue in the trenches for the short term. We'll shift now to work with one another on a major issue in this Western PA region. A situation that is about to transform our region into a true REGENERATIVE town!
Thank You Matt Mehalik, formerly of Sustainable Pittsburgh for organizing the meeting in Beaver County PA on Thursday evening, December 1, 2016 regarding the PROPOSED Shell Oil "Cracker" Plant where 150 concerned citizens met in Beaver County to hear many amazing speakers and see a documentary on how this type of plant affects community. Two amazing women spoke from their hearts about Cancer Alley, Louisiana where there is a "Cracker" Plant. We learned that this Cracker Plant proposal for Beaver county, PA is NOT a done deal. In other words, this plant does NOT need to be constructed and may not be constructed even as Shell Oil acts as if the installation of this plant is inevitable. We learned that what the industry tells us is not the truth. We also heard some of the facts from Clean Water Action's Adam Tuznik. Thank You! Go to CleanWaterAction.org to the PA tab for updates on Actions.
Thank you Nora Alwine of the PA Department of Environmental Protection for answering a few questions related to the proposed Shell Oil Ethane "Cracker" Plant one half hour north of Pittsburgh, PA in Beaver County, Potter Township at the intersection of Routes 376 and 18. Thanks for being available for questions at 412-442-4137 or nalwine@pa.gov. Thanks for providing the contact information for both the Water and Air Permit reviewers for this proposed site. The Water Permit Reviewer is Ryan Decker, rydecker@pa.gov, 412-442-4144. The Air Permit Reviewer is Alan Binder, 412-442-4168 ABinder@pa.gov.
One or more permits have been issued and Shell Oil is now going for an amendment to the current permit which will allow them to construct the Cracker Plant on the designated site in Potter. It is VERY IMPORTANT that ALL of us (yes that means YOU as you are reading this article!! :) attend the DEP of PA Hearing on this issue Thursday, December 15, 2016. SAVE the time between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM that evening, register with Nora Alwine of the DEP (see contact information above) if you'd like to speak for three minutes, and let's carpool to Beaver County together! Following the meeting on December 15, 2016, there will be a comment period open until December 26, 2016. Yes, right smack in the middle of holiday season!
There is an extensive fact sheet on the PA DEP.PA.gov web site. Follow this trail to get there:
1) Go to the dep.pa.gov web site 2) On the front page of the site, click on Regional Resources 3) Scroll down and click on Southwest Regional 4) Scroll again and click on Community Information 5) Scroll again and click on Shell and you'll see the extensive FACT SHEET describing what Shell Oil is asking for.
Now I will share much of what I plan to say in my testimony at this upcoming DEP Hearing:
Hello Community members and Shell Oil Company members. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you for a few minutes this evening. I am feeling so blessed that the opportunity has arisen for so much of the community to come together and unify around our Regenerative Future which is NOW! I am feeling so much compassion for all of us and feeling gratefulness to be standing before you. I know how lucky and blessed I am. I juice each and every morning for myself and for my family. It's our morning detox. As we go inside and detoxify our inner ecosystems, our brains and hearts become clearer and we start to understand. I understand why spirit has guided us to visit Beaver, the site of this proposed Shell Cracker plant. The paradigm shift from 1957 when the Shippensport Nuclear Power Plant was installed a few miles up the Ohio River from this former Zinc Smelter Plant Site (that still carries the toxic load of Mercury and Lead) was the Extractive Paradigm. That it's OK to take from (a.k.a. RAPE) the Earth, our Mother, our Mother Earth, and give nothing in return.
As 2016 comes to a close, many of us are waking up in a new reality. At this moment, at this time, we understand Mother Earth, our Mother, is exhausted from being raped so brutally and so consistently. She is ready for deep, deep compassion and deep recovery. All of us are!
Shell Oil executives and workers who have so carefully prepared the infrastructure for this proposed plant. Thank You! Mother Earth has a Regenerative, Rejeuvenative proposal for you. Employ yourselves and your workers in the Regenerative, Rejeuvenative business of the NEW EARTH. Give back more than you take. Double the number of workers to 12,000 people who will be permanently employed at the site of this former Zinc Smelter Plant. Replace the Cracker Plant plans with a REGENERATIVE Plant that will produce energy in a REGENERATIVE WAY and restore the Earth in its operation. Build a LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE Campus on that 400 acre site. Use all of the locals who have built or are registered to build Living Buildings in Pittsburgh such as The Center for Sustainable Living and the SEED classroom at Phipps Conservatory, the Frick Environmental Center and The Schwartz Living Market as resources in the Pittsburgh region. Teach your workers Permaculture, teach them how to take care of themselves from the inside out. Teach them both inner ecosystem cleansing, outer ecosystem (air, water, spirit, emotional clarity) cleansing and then maintenance to show the planet how one of the most toxic places on Planet Earth can not only be restored to its original beautifully magnificent self, but can exceed everyone's wildest expectations and become the EDEN inside and out that we were all meant to be in amazing cooperative, collaborative and regenerative community. Thank you Shell Oil for giving us this opportunity for paradigm shifting just upstream from the POINT~ the sacred union of the Four Rivers in Pittsburgh, PA. So many of us are so very excited! May we all be blessed as we work together as ONE!~:)
Within our blessings there is some dissonance. Perhaps I notice this dissonance a bit more, as I am not a Western PA native. I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of the D.C. area. I've lived in Western PA for my whole married life, that's 26 years. I've chosen to let loose and talk about what I've been feeling. Juxtaposed with the beauty within us and surrounding us is a veil. Just below the veil sits not only a legacy of raped land and waters and surely raped people. That legacy has not ended. It is happening in the present moment and is real right now. It is still happening today and we are all to some degree unknowing participants. We sit and stand in the same room as others disassociated from our fellow human beings while focussing on our electronic devices. We forget about the beauty and necessity of simply BEING in the landscape, the great outdoors and we stay inside for most of our days. We are addicted to oil and gas. We drive our cars, fly in planes, wear plastic vegan shoes and clothing, eat meat, chicken, fish, and dairy foods. We poop and pee into a piped system that was designed a long time ago and does not work. It carries what leaves our bodies away, away into the rivers. What is away anyway? We're about to support a billions of dollars new "pipe" system to comply with a consent decree that makes no sense in our new world.
Our new world? What do you mean by that? We are living at this moment in time at the end of a 26,000 year cycle. The end of the Mayan calendar and the end of many eras according to many spiritual and religious traditions. We have the opportunity right NOW to shift our awareness and consciousness in ways that were not possible at other times in history or herstory.
We have the opportunity to change the story to one of complete gratitude, peace, and abundance. The opportunity to repair the world beginning with ourselves, our own inner ecosystems and working outward into our landscape. Some of us are BEING the CHANGE we with to see in this world NOW!
How? Glad you asked!
We are beginning to connect the dots in the Pittsburgh region. Those of us who have been working under the radar, away from what some could consider 'real' jobs, outside of the institutions of health care, education and government, those of us who have been working on Transition Town (check out Rob Hopkins and the Transition Town Movement he spearheaded in Totnes, England in 2005, perhaps the white man and women's version of re-discovering all of our indigenous roots?!:) projects are arriving. A few of these projects I have been directly facilitating. Two example projects are Sustainable Monroeville (sustainablemonroeville.blogspot.com) and the Schwartz Living Market (http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com out of which has just hatched the For One Peace Artist Cooperative) process. These Transition Town, Regenerative, Independent processes along with other processes in the area after about six years have reached critical mass and are bearing fruit. Greg Boulos and his wife's Blackberry Meadows Farm are producing fresh Community Supported Agriculture for community and teaching people how to grow their own food. Mark Dixon of YERT.org fame has been active in numerous projects in the region including creating a film for Rachel Carson's 50th Anniversary last year with Mayor of Forest Hills' Patricia de Marco. Jeff Newman has started a cooperative called Steel City Soils in Braddock, PA and is demonstrating how organic produce can be turned into the best black gold there is on the planet! Kate O'Brien is showing how that black gold compost is used on a private Mckeesrocks, PA household lawn to grow some of the largest and most productive gardens including the most enormous sunflowers I ever did see! Maren Cooke's monthly Sustainability Salons just keep getting better and better and are educating more and more people about our Regenerative Future. Many more examples are exploding all around the Pittsburgh region!
And we are figuring out as a culture how to move beyond our addictions and heal from the inside out. As a neurodevelopmental optometrist specializing in optometric vision therapy, I understand deeply what is transpiring and what is possible with the WILL of our Human Spirit, and I am super excited about this moment in time as we are lifting the veil of dis-ease and morphing ourselves and the planet into the EDEN our planet is!
What is the secret? Positivity! Centering in our hearts, taking care of ourselves in ways we used to think were selfish, and sharing all we can with others all the time. That's it. That simple. That profound!
And now the deep, deep thanks for what is happening now to those that continue in the trenches for the short term. We'll shift now to work with one another on a major issue in this Western PA region. A situation that is about to transform our region into a true REGENERATIVE town!
Thank You Matt Mehalik, formerly of Sustainable Pittsburgh for organizing the meeting in Beaver County PA on Thursday evening, December 1, 2016 regarding the PROPOSED Shell Oil "Cracker" Plant where 150 concerned citizens met in Beaver County to hear many amazing speakers and see a documentary on how this type of plant affects community. Two amazing women spoke from their hearts about Cancer Alley, Louisiana where there is a "Cracker" Plant. We learned that this Cracker Plant proposal for Beaver county, PA is NOT a done deal. In other words, this plant does NOT need to be constructed and may not be constructed even as Shell Oil acts as if the installation of this plant is inevitable. We learned that what the industry tells us is not the truth. We also heard some of the facts from Clean Water Action's Adam Tuznik. Thank You! Go to CleanWaterAction.org to the PA tab for updates on Actions.
Thank you Nora Alwine of the PA Department of Environmental Protection for answering a few questions related to the proposed Shell Oil Ethane "Cracker" Plant one half hour north of Pittsburgh, PA in Beaver County, Potter Township at the intersection of Routes 376 and 18. Thanks for being available for questions at 412-442-4137 or nalwine@pa.gov. Thanks for providing the contact information for both the Water and Air Permit reviewers for this proposed site. The Water Permit Reviewer is Ryan Decker, rydecker@pa.gov, 412-442-4144. The Air Permit Reviewer is Alan Binder, 412-442-4168 ABinder@pa.gov.
One or more permits have been issued and Shell Oil is now going for an amendment to the current permit which will allow them to construct the Cracker Plant on the designated site in Potter. It is VERY IMPORTANT that ALL of us (yes that means YOU as you are reading this article!! :) attend the DEP of PA Hearing on this issue Thursday, December 15, 2016. SAVE the time between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM that evening, register with Nora Alwine of the DEP (see contact information above) if you'd like to speak for three minutes, and let's carpool to Beaver County together! Following the meeting on December 15, 2016, there will be a comment period open until December 26, 2016. Yes, right smack in the middle of holiday season!
There is an extensive fact sheet on the PA DEP.PA.gov web site. Follow this trail to get there:
1) Go to the dep.pa.gov web site 2) On the front page of the site, click on Regional Resources 3) Scroll down and click on Southwest Regional 4) Scroll again and click on Community Information 5) Scroll again and click on Shell and you'll see the extensive FACT SHEET describing what Shell Oil is asking for.
Now I will share much of what I plan to say in my testimony at this upcoming DEP Hearing:
Hello Community members and Shell Oil Company members. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you for a few minutes this evening. I am feeling so blessed that the opportunity has arisen for so much of the community to come together and unify around our Regenerative Future which is NOW! I am feeling so much compassion for all of us and feeling gratefulness to be standing before you. I know how lucky and blessed I am. I juice each and every morning for myself and for my family. It's our morning detox. As we go inside and detoxify our inner ecosystems, our brains and hearts become clearer and we start to understand. I understand why spirit has guided us to visit Beaver, the site of this proposed Shell Cracker plant. The paradigm shift from 1957 when the Shippensport Nuclear Power Plant was installed a few miles up the Ohio River from this former Zinc Smelter Plant Site (that still carries the toxic load of Mercury and Lead) was the Extractive Paradigm. That it's OK to take from (a.k.a. RAPE) the Earth, our Mother, our Mother Earth, and give nothing in return.
As 2016 comes to a close, many of us are waking up in a new reality. At this moment, at this time, we understand Mother Earth, our Mother, is exhausted from being raped so brutally and so consistently. She is ready for deep, deep compassion and deep recovery. All of us are!
Shell Oil executives and workers who have so carefully prepared the infrastructure for this proposed plant. Thank You! Mother Earth has a Regenerative, Rejeuvenative proposal for you. Employ yourselves and your workers in the Regenerative, Rejeuvenative business of the NEW EARTH. Give back more than you take. Double the number of workers to 12,000 people who will be permanently employed at the site of this former Zinc Smelter Plant. Replace the Cracker Plant plans with a REGENERATIVE Plant that will produce energy in a REGENERATIVE WAY and restore the Earth in its operation. Build a LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE Campus on that 400 acre site. Use all of the locals who have built or are registered to build Living Buildings in Pittsburgh such as The Center for Sustainable Living and the SEED classroom at Phipps Conservatory, the Frick Environmental Center and The Schwartz Living Market as resources in the Pittsburgh region. Teach your workers Permaculture, teach them how to take care of themselves from the inside out. Teach them both inner ecosystem cleansing, outer ecosystem (air, water, spirit, emotional clarity) cleansing and then maintenance to show the planet how one of the most toxic places on Planet Earth can not only be restored to its original beautifully magnificent self, but can exceed everyone's wildest expectations and become the EDEN inside and out that we were all meant to be in amazing cooperative, collaborative and regenerative community. Thank you Shell Oil for giving us this opportunity for paradigm shifting just upstream from the POINT~ the sacred union of the Four Rivers in Pittsburgh, PA. So many of us are so very excited! May we all be blessed as we work together as ONE!~:)
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