Peering at our planet

By TOM KANE

LAKE WALLENPAUPACK, PA — Nine-year-old Cassie Host doesn’t like algae. In fact, she hates them.

“They could kill the lake,” she said.

Cassie came to the Earth Day Celebration held on Sunday, April 18 at the PPL Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center just to see what algae look like.

“They’re squiggly creatures that look harmless,” she said as she looked through a microscope at the center’s state-of-the-art biology lab.

“Besides, people who swim in the lake can get sick if there are a lot of them,” she said.

Cassie was happy to hear that a lot was being done to keep algae levels low.

“A lot of people contribute to the pollution of the lake,” said Lois Stiene of Hawley. “One problem is the run-off from farms as far away as five miles.”

Cassie, Lois and about 600 concerned people came to the newly constructed center built by the PPL Services Corporation outside of Hawley, PA on Route 6.

They learned about watersheds and water quality from the Pike County Conservation District, organic gardening from the Himalayan Institute, and wind power from FPL Energy, who built the wind farm in Waymart and from Dick Riseling from Apple Pond Farm’s wind project.

Also supporting the Earth Day effort were displays by the Northeast PA Audubon Society, the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Lacawac Sanctuary, Wayne County Master Gardeners, Pocono Environmental Education Center, and Native American History and Culture by Frank Little Bear from the Cree Nation, among others.

A group of elementary students—among them Marc Lewandowski, Robbie Segalla and his little sister, Lexie—crowded around Wallenpaupack High School student, Joe Motsko, who demonstrated how a car can be powered by fuel cells.

“This will be used some day soon to power automobiles, Motsko said to the children as his demo fuel cell car sped across the floor.

Danielle Chiocchi, 11, thinks that a lot of young kids are interested in the environment. “A lot of my friends came here today to see,” she said.

“I have a lot of hope for the earth,” said Debbie Mitkovsky of Greentown, PA. “People are much more aware of the dangers to the environment than in past years. I recycle, I plant trees on my property and I don’t cut down any.”

Not everyone who came to the Earth Day Celebration supported alternative energy.

Donald Goetz, an opponent of the Waymart wind farm, came to the presentation by FPL to object.

“You have some nerve coming here on Earth Day when your company is ignoring people who live near the wind turbines,” Goetz said to FPL’s Mary Wells.

All in all, organizers were pleased with the day.

“We attempted to offer a variety of information about the environment in a fun and informative way so that it’s appealing to adults and children,” said Meg Welker of PPL Services, the organizer of the day. “We feel that we succeeded.”

April 22 is Earth Day

Since April 22, 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson organized the first nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment, Americans have celebrated the date as Earth Day.

The idea for Earth Day, Nelson writes, evolved during a period of seven years before 1970. He persuaded President John F. Kennedy to give visibility to environmental issues by going on a national conservation tour.

“For many reasons, the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day,” he writes.

In this issue, reporter Tom Kane looks at the possible creation of a Delaware River Greenway, a community-grant program New York State Senator John Bonacic began advocating in February. See story on page 13. An Earth Day editorial is on page 6 and all environmental articles are marked with an icon.