Sierra Club - Lehigh Valley Group Executive Committee
Monday, March 9, 2020 7:00 PM
100 Illicks Mill Rd.
Bethlehem, PA 18017
MINUTES
Executive Committee Members: Matthew MacConnell, , Marilyn Jordan, Nanci McGonigal, Dave Reber, Don Miles, Rachel Rosenfeld, Andy Unger
Visitors: John Gallagher
Political: Nanci attended mandatory political training as the representative for our Lehigh Valley Group. Some pages in the Compliance Manual have been updated. Some groups (not ours) have not been following proper procedures for endorsing candidates for political office.
Nanci also did training on the Sierra Club website in the “about us” section. The old conservation webpage has been deleted. Nanci was handicapped somewhat since she broke a wrist and is wearing a brace. A new digital organizer needs to be hired according to Rachel.
Report by PA Chapter LV Community Outreach Coordinator (Rachel Rosenfeld)
There were not many events in January and February. Many events have been/will be held in March, including:
- Oppose HB 1100 (urge Gov. Wolf to veto bill giving billions in tax credits to the fossil fuel industry);
- Delaware River Basin Commission public meeting – demand a ban on fracking, and fracking wastewater;
- Plainfield Board of Supervisors meeting regarding Waste Management, which wants to expand their landfill onto 211 acres of forest and farmland, and is asking the Township to rezone those acres to allow esolid waste disposal;
- Sierra Club meet and greet in Monroe County. See Rachel’s handout for details
Jim Wyile, Chapter chair wants to hold a meeting of the East and West Sierra Club on May 2, and is looking for an affordable location. Rachel suggested the Mill ($250 for a non-profit) or the Illick’s Mill outdoor pavilion ($100 with public bathroom). Action Item: Don said he would call Jodie and ask to reserve May 2 all day.
We need safety team guidance about events, in light of COVID-19 situation. Illick’s Mill does not get cleaned regularly. AMC will share cleaning supplies, and follow with disinfectant wiping.
Conservation report (Matt MacConnell)
Water quality: The 2nd sentence of water quality section, the $1700 was for repair of modem #2, this cost also includes the annual web page fee for presenting the data on the Internet and the invoice had a $750 co-pay from LRSA .
- The Modem for Probe #1was repaired. Repair of modem #2 (pins corroded from being underwater) will cost $1,700, including the annual web page fee for presenting the data on the Internet. The invoice had a $750 co-pay from the Lehigh River Stocking Association. Probe # needs to be upgraded to 5G, but funds are used up. Total cost (with shipping) will be $1,583.64. Motion was unanimously approved to pay for the repair.
- Matt is going to bring water quality data to classrooms in Orefield and Parkland schools. Dianne Haverstroh Caspersen, a science teacher at Parkland, is developing a webpage that will be linked to Probe 1 which will be in the water for the rest of the year. Probe 2 will be used for incident responses. Rachel asked to use the probe with volunteers on three dates in the summer; they will get water quality training. Matt volunteered to help. Matt will be pitting in long full days of tributary monitoring this summer: Jordan creek 6:00 AM and Jim Thorpe 2:00 PM. Matt confirmed high, toxic aluminum concentrations in water from mines entering Lehigh Creek, Buck Mountain Creek, and Quakake Creek. Where the creeks enter the Lehigh River aluminum concentrations are no longer toxic. How far does the toxic aluminum zone extend?
- Zinc was 0.35 ppm in surface water of the Aquashicola creek under the bridge in Lehigh Gap, and 50 yards upstream from its confluence with the Lehigh River, on Sept. 8, 2019. Lehigh River water upstream of the confluence had 0.0 ppm zinc on the same day. [Note: A follow-up measurement in the Aquashicola Creek on March 11, 2020 was 0.22 ppm zinc.] Matt said the Stocking Association may fold. He would like the Sierra Club to keep the probes.
Ricky’s Park: Pond scum (green algae) in the wetland looked awful. We need to push more water up into the dead end. The filters need to be shaken out periodically. Rachel can assign volunteers to do discrete jobs including making a map of plant locations and species names. We were reimbursed $2,000 for the cost of the Ricky’s Park fence, which we had paid for out of our account.
Matt is taking apiary training to become a beekeeper for the hive to be installed at Ricky’s Park. The Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Association may volunteer to help. Don knows a beekeeper named Gary.
Particulate monitoring: Matt is going to set up particulate monitors at four sites chosen as most likely to have excessive airborne fine particulates, probably due to truck traffic. Action item: Don will send Matt a map of likely sites.
Farmland Preservation (Don Miles)
The chairman of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission will talk about a presentation for County executives on how to preserve farmland. A 10% increase in Cunty taxes will be needed. Surveys show that farmland preservation is the most important issue to residents, and 56+% are willing to pay $100 more in taxes.
Other topics
Minutes: Marilyn should send meeting minutes to all ExCom members, ideally within a week after each meeting. ExCom members should send any corrections before the next meeting.
Guest sign-ins: Marilyn should send guest sign-ins to Rachael and she will put them in ”Campfire.” Matt needs permission to access Campfire.
Contamination from Palmerton: Matt said a report from an aircraft indicated seeing a white plume in the Lehigh River, originating from the former West Plant zinc smelter site. Marilyn reported seeing long lines of full dump trucks heading north on route 248, exiting at Palmerton, and existing south empty.
No dam removal: No chance to remove a dam on Pohopoco Creek: The Town of Palmerton sells water from an impoundment on Pohopoco Creek to Horsehead Industries. Palmerton had hoped water from a new well could replace creek water. However TDS (total dissolved solids) in the well water was 1500 ppm, which exceeded the specification limit of 1,000 ppm. Therefore the well cannot provide water for Horseheads – and therefore the 9x200 ft dam on the Pohopoco Creek cannot be removed. Sierra Club LV has already spent $2,000 for a fish ladder plan, and will now have to revisit getting permits from the PA Fish and Boat commission.
Meeting adjourned at 9:08 PM.
Our next meeting: April 13, 2020 at 7:00 PM
This meeting will be a public event [Note: meeting cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic]
100 Illicks Mill Rd., Bethlehem, PA 18017
Minutes by Marilyn Jordan