In the News
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Environmental Monitor
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The BEAT News Archives
Advocacy News (Includes how to reach your legislators)
DEP Enforcement Actions In The Berkshire
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Pittsfield Green Drinks - gathering of people interested in conservation and environmental issues - all welcome
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - Winter Solstice
starting at 5:15 pm
Dottie's Coffee Lounge, 444 North St. , Pittsfield, MA
sponsored by Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) & the Center for Ecological Technology (CET)
Pittsfield Green Drinks is a very informal gathering, open to everyone with any environmental interest. The drinks aren't green, but our conversations are.
Every month, on the third Tuesday, beginning at 5:15 pm we gather for "Green Drinks". This month's Pittsfield Green Drinks will be at Dottie's Coffee Lounge, 444 North St., Pittsfield. Come talk about the environmental issues you are interested in and hear about what others are doing to try to save the world. Join us, Tuesday, December 21st - Winter Solstice - starting at 5:15 pm.
Green Drinks in Pittsfield is co- sponsored by the Center for Ecological Technology (CET) and the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT).
What is Green Drinks? Green Drinks is an international forum where people who work in the environmental field meet for a beer and snacks at informal sessions. There will be a lively mix of people from Non-profit organizations, academia, government and business.
Green Drinks is a great way of catching up with people you know and for making new contacts. These networking events are very simple and unstructured. Come along and you'll be made welcome.
For more information about Pittsfield Green Drinks, contact Jamie Cahillane at CET (413-445-4556 ext. 14) or Jane Winn at BEAT (jane@thebeatnews.org or 413-230-7321).
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North Adams Green Drinks - gathering of people interested in conservation and environmental issues - all welcome
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
starting at 5:30 pm
Freight Yard Pub, Western Gateway Heritage Park
sponsored by Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) & Northern Berkshire Transition
North Adams Green Drinks is a very informal gathering, open to everyone with any environmental interest. The drinks aren't green, but our conversations are.
Every month, on the second Tuesday, beginning at 5:30 pm we will gather for "Green Drinks". This month's North Adams Green Drinks will be December 14th at the Freight Yard Pub in the Western Gateway Heritage Park. Please join us for a casual gathering of environmentally inclined folk talking about anything from wildlife crossings to recycling, wetlands to weatherizing. Come and join the conversation.
Green Drinks in North Adams is sponsored by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and Northern Berkshire Transition.
Green Drinks is a great way of catching up with people you know and for making new contacts. These networking events are very simple and unstructured. Come along and you'll be made welcome.
For more information about North Adams Green Drinks, contact Bruce Winn at BEAT (bruce@thebeatnews.org or 413-230-7321).
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Pittsfield Printing Company Will Pay $385,000 for Clean Air Violations and to Help Clean Wood Stoves in Western Massachusetts
(Boston – December 7, 2010) A printing company in Pittsfield has agreed to pay a penalty of $80,000 and to spend $305,000 to replace old, polluting wood stoves in western Massachusetts with new, cleaner models to settle claims by the US Environmental Protection Agency that it violated the federal Clean Air Act.
Interprint, Inc., which is owned by a German company, has agreed to help homeowners replace their wood stoves with EPA-certified wood stoves or other cleaner, more efficient home heating equipment such as gas or propane heaters. Interprint will provide a voucher—typically for $1,000 per household—as an incentive to replace pre-1988 woodstoves. Pre-1988 woodstoves are a significant source of indoor and outdoor air pollution. A new wood stove installation costs about $3,000.
“The Pittsfield area will benefit from this wood stove change-out project,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England regional office. “Homeowners will get help with buying new wood stoves, which will burn cleaner and more efficiently. This project will create green jobs, reduce fuel consumption, and improve air quality in communities by reducing the harmful pollutants that come from wood smoke.”
Interprint designs and prints decor paper used as the design layer in laminate surfaces such as counter tops, flooring, furniture, and store fixtures. In the printing process, Interprint uses large amounts of inks that contain volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants.
Interprint built a new printing facility in Pittsfield in 2004 without applying for a permit required under the Clean Air Act’s new source review provisions. In addition, Interprint began operating the new facility in 2005 without complying with new source review requirements for VOC emissions, Title V operating permit requirements, and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Printing and Publishing Facilities.
The consent decree, lodged in federal court and requiring approval by the court, requires the company to come into compliance with the Clean Air Act by getting the proper permits and significantly reducing its VOC and hazardous air pollutant emissions. Interprint has reformulated its inks to reduce VOC and hazardous air pollutant content, and has demonstrated that its new inks provide emissions reductions equivalent to those achieved through stringent add-on controls. As a result, Interprint’s new formulations represent the lowest achievable emission reductions.
Interprint began operating in Pittsfield in 1988 at 125 Pecks Road. In May 2004, the company began construction of its new facility at 101 Central Berkshire Boulevard. The Pittsfield location is Interprint’s only U.S. facility.
The EPA action grew out of a joint EPA and state DEP inspection of the facility in July 2007.
The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court, will be subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. Once it is published in the Federal Register, a copy of the consent decree will be available on the Justice Department Web site at (http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html).
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Conservation Partnership Grants to Help Land Trusts Protect 374 Acres Across the Commonwealth
Statewide map of all grant recipients.
BOSTON – December 2, 2010 – As part of Governor Patrick’s unprecedented commitment to land conservation, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Ian Bowles today announced $485,450 in fiscal year 2011 Conservation Partnership Grants that will enable seven nonprofit organizations to preserve 374 acres of open space from Cape Cod to the hill towns of Western Massachusetts.
The $485,450 in funding announced today protects 374 acres of land, including 255 acres of working forest and an island. Conservation Partnership grants are designed to help nonprofit organizations purchase land or interests in land (such as conservation restrictions) for conservation or recreation. Grant recipients must convey a perpetual conservation restriction to either the community where a project exists or to a state agency, and protected property must provide a public benefit. Grants finance no more than half of total project costs.
Proposed projects are evaluated and selected based on their ability to conserve biodiversity, protect water quality, promote recreation, and preserve working farms and forests. This year’s projects include properties that enlarge or connect to other conservation land, increase opportunity for hiking, other passive recreation and outdoor education, or contain prime agricultural soils or important wildlife habitat. All acquisitions are open to the public for passive recreation.
One of the grants announced was in western Mass.
- New England Forestry Foundation – $66,750 for a 255-acre property in the towns of Buckland and Conway that completes 3,209-acre block of working forest that lies entirely within BioMap supporting landscape area and connects to Buckland State Forest. Comprised of five formerly separate ownerships, the property contains a diverse and unique forest including a champion red oak tree (among the tallest red oaks in the region). This woodland has been under active forest management for many years.
Since 2006, the Conservation Partnership Program has completed 77 projects protecting more than 2,300 acres with an investment of $3.5 million in EEA funding. Funding for Conservation Partnership grants comes from the Energy and Environment Bond Bill signed by Governor Patrick in 2008.
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Position Announcement: Water Resource and/or Fisheries Engineer
(aka River Restoration or Ecological Restoration Engineer)
Princeton Hydro, LLC is looking for a full-time, experienced Water Resource and/or Fisheries Engineer for our New England Regional Office out of Glastonbury, Connecticut to join our team of Scientists, Engineers and Natural Resource Specialists who take great pride in their innovative approach to aquatic and wetland restoration projects.
Princeton Hydro, LLC is an award winning consulting firm that specializes in all areas of water and wetlands resource management and restoration. Our uniquely talented and diverse team of professionals combines years of project experience along with scientific and engineering expertise enabling us to design innovative yet cost-effective solutions. Please visit our web site at www.princetonhydro.com.
As a growing and expanding firm in the areas of water resource management and engineering, ecological restoration consulting and soils/geotechnical engineering, we are looking for an individual who would provide engineering analysis and design, is capable of thinking “outside the box” and is a team player. The ideal candidate will need to have exceptional field skills and be highly self motivated.
The qualified candidate will be involved on a day-to-day basis with stream barrier removal (dams and culverts), fish passage, and river/ecological restoration design projects throughout the greater northeast.
Requirements:
- Minimum BS in Civil Engineering from an ABET accredited university; Masters in Engineering or Science a plus.
- Minimum Engineer-in-Training (E.I.T.)
2-10 years directly relevant experience
- Experience in hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) modeling and AutoCAD a must; Experience in fisheries engineering, river mechanics, sediment transport, and fluvial geomorphology preferred.
Salary compensation will be dependent on experience. We offer competitive salaries, medical, 401K and more in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Interested candidates should send a digital copy of their resume to Laura Wildman, P.E. by January 28th at Princeton Hydro’s New England Regional Office at lwildman@princetonhydro.com, 860-652-8911.
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Tamakoce Wilderness Programs Winter Schedule
Red Efts – Ages 5-8, Williamstown, MA.
Hours- 10- 2:00
Jan. 1, 31
Feb 14, 28
Weasel Tracks – Ages 8-12 Grafton, NY.
Hours- 9-3
Jan. 4, 18
Feb. 1,15
Clay Coyotes – Ages 8-12 Albany, NY
Hours- 9:30-3:30
Jan. 5, 19
Feb. 2, 16
Gray Fox (boys rites of passage) – Ages 13-17
Dec. 29-30 overnight camp
Jan.17
Feb.23
Apr. 21-22 overnight camp
These days will be dependent on weather. The cost will be a sliding scale, 30-50 per day. Please pre- register by Christmas via email and postal. I will attach a registration form to this email for you to send to me with a payment of $50 to:
Tamakoce Wilderness Programs
95 Crandall Rd.
Petersburgh, NY, 12138
There will be other special events like, tracking series, winter survival and fireside storytelling, throughout the winter as well so watch for emails!
Thanks and enjoy the holidays!
Dan
Dan Yacobellis
tamakocewildernessprograms.com
518-658-0328
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Winter/Spring Programs at Flying Deer
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Happy Holidays!
We send you and your loved ones warm and cozy wishes for a beautiful and nature-filled holiday season! We look forward to spending time with you in 2011, sharing the joys of the snowy winter world and the springtime blossoming!
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Snowy Owl vacation camp, December 28-31
Join us as we adventure through the beautiful winter forest landscape, following tracks and trails; crafting jewelry from natural materials; making bows and arrows; fire-making without matches; and practicing our invisibility with fun scouting games!
Come for the whole week, or choose one, two, or three days to attend. Register now.
Tuition:
4-day camp, 9 am-3 pm each day: $235
4-day camp including after- and before-care (8:30 am-5 pm daily): $295
Per day (choose 1, 2, or 3 days to attend), 9 am to 3 pm: $65
Per day (choose 1, 2, or 3 days to attend) including after- and before-care (8:30 am-5 pm): $80
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Spring semester homeschool programs for boys and girls
- FOREST (Friends Outdoors Relishing Earth Skills Together) coed program, for ages 7 to 13, meets on alternate Tuesdays beginning Feb. 15.
- Chickadee Rain, for boys ages 7 to 13, meets on alternate Tuesdays beginning Feb. 8.
- NEW: Daughters of the Earth, for girls ages 7 to 13, meets on alternate Tuesdays beginning Feb. 8 (the same dates as Chickadee Rain).
Special pricing when you register for both FOREST and either Chickadee Rain or Daughters of the Earth.
Find out more and register now!
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 Moon Tribe rising!
Flying Deer Codirector Michelle Apland is now registering girls aged 11 to 13 for Moon Tribe, a long-term coming-of-age program for girls. The program begins in February and meets for one Saturday each month in the woods, leading up to a weeklong summer adventure! Now in its seventh year, Moon Tribe has been a rich, fun, and life-changing experience for many girls and women.
Moon Tribe is designed to support girls as they move through early adolescence, learning about themselves and the world and discerning their identities as young women. Over two-and-a-half years, the program weaves community and consciousness around potent issues for growing girls and nurtures each girl's innate strength in herself and in her relationships with the earth, her peers, women mentors, and the circle of mothers. Fathers and families are woven into the experience as well.
Interested parents are invited to join Michelle for an introductory informational meeting, Sunday, Dec. 12, from 3-5 pm.
E-mail Michelle for details or to register your daughter.
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| All programs take place at Flying Deer Nature Center, 5 Abode Rd., New Lebanon, NY 12125. |
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