Pennsylvania Clean Water Initiative gets $240 million

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Pennsylvania $240,167,000 from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to improve water infrastructure, according to a press release from Sen. Bob Casey. It will supplement the $67 million awarded to Pennsylvania for its Clean Water and Drinking Water revolving fund in fiscal year 2022.

The funding will be used help communities access safe, clean water, repair aging pipes, collect and treat wastewater and build resiliency in the face of extreme weather events.

Help clean up Sullivan County

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County’s fall roadside and trail litter pluck has been extended through Monday, October 31. By resolution of the county legislature, the disposal fee will be waived during that time for roadside and public trail litter.

Residents who wish to participate in the litter pluck can pick up their free disposal coupons and program guidelines at their town or village hall, county-operated transfer station, or the Sullivan County parks and recreation department in the government center. For more information about the litter pluck or where to find coupons, call the Sullivan County Department of Parks, Recreation and Beautification at 845/807-0287, or email scparks@sullivanny.us.

Pike County holds household hazardous waste collection event

MILFORD, PA — Pike County household hazardous waste (HHW) will be collected on Thursday, October 29, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Dingman Delaware Middle School, 1365 PA-739, Dingmans Ferry. HHW is any product found in a household that is considered toxic, flammable or that requires careful handling and disposal. Examples of these hazardous products include pool chemicals, motor oils and pesticides.

To register for this event, inventory the amounts of HHW to be disposed of and visit PikeCountyHHW.eventbrite.com. For more information, call the Pike County Conservation District at 570/226-8220 or the Pike County Office of Community Planning at 570/296-3500.

Local EMT memorialized by state

ALBANY, NY — New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) officials and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) community came together on September 20 to honor 10 fallen EMS heroes at the New York State EMS Memorial Ceremony. The EMS Memorial features a large granite tablet with the Tree of Life, and the names of those EMS personnel who died in the line of duty, engraved on its surface.

Ian Cooperstein, from Sullivan Paramedicine, was one of the EMS personnel honored at this year’s ceremony. Cooperstein was a well-known and respected emergency medical technician in Sullivan County, and was most recently employed as the deputy director of operations for Mobilemedic EMS. He passed away on September 23, 2021 following a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Local fisherman recovered

BEACH LAKE, PA — On September 19, at approximately 2 p.m., the body of a fisherman, reported missing on September 8, was located in the Delaware River in New Jersey by the NY State Police helicopter crew, according to a press release from the National Park Service. The fisherman had gone missing in the early-morning hours of September 8, when a boat with two fishermen capsized near Cherry Island in the Delaware River; one fisherman made it to shore, and the other was missing. This brought to a close an 11-day search.

Frack-ban challenge dismissed

UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY — The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a legal challenge to a Delaware River Basin Commission ban on fracking operations within the Delaware River Basin, according to a press release from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The challenge to the ban was filed by state Sens. Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, the Pennsylvania Senate Republican caucus, and Damascus Township in Wayne County. The plaintiffs claimed that the frack ban “palpably and substantially diminished the legislative powers’’ of the two Republican senators, prevented municipalities from economically benefiting from fracking-related activities, and infringed upon their duty to serve as trustees of Pennsylvania’s natural resources under the Environmental Rights Amendment.

“In our view, the state senators and the Senate Republican Caucus lack standing because the legislative injuries they allege affect the state legislature as a whole,” wrote the court. “The municipalities lack standing because the economic injuries they allege are ‘conjectural’ and ‘hypothetical’ rather than ‘actual and imminent.’ And none of the plaintiffs-appellants have standing as trustees of Pennsylvania’s public natural resources under the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution because the commission’s ban on fracking has not cognizably harmed the trust.”

Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance receives $400,000

EIGHTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, PA — The Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA Alliance) has received $400,000 in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the alliance’s PREP program, according to a press release from Congressman Matt Cartwright (PA-08).

The PREP program provides hands-on, technical assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses and to local governments in the form of business financing, export promotion and procurement assistance.

“NEPA Alliance would like to thank Congressman Cartwright for his continued support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and for the help in securing the PREP grant. These federal funds allow NEPA to continue to service our business clients throughout northeastern Pennsylvania with business financing, international business development and government contracting assistance,” stated Jeffrey Box, president and CEO of NEPA Alliance.

Villa Roma to be sold

THE BEECHWOODS, NY — The historic hotel and resort Villa Roma is in contract to be sold to Fay Hospitality Catskills LLC. The negotiations for purchase have been ongoing for several years and the sale is expected to be finalized within a month or two, according to sources knowledgeable about the purchase. Fay Investment and Asset Management operates in New York and in London with a focus on hotel and commercial real estate management.

The Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency issued Fay Hospitality Catskills with a sales, mortgage, and property tax abatement agreement in a meeting on May 16. The agency’s agreement specifies that Fay Hospitality Catskills has acquired a commitment for a loan amounting to $21,900,000 in outside funding to accomplish the acquisition and renovation of the Villa Roma.

Corrections

The article “Saving Lake Jeff?” published in the September 22-28 edition of the River Reporter referred to an advocacy group as the the Lake Jefferson Conservation Organization; it is properly the Lake Jefferson Conservation Association.