More local troops will be sent to Afghanistan

HONESDALE, PA — About 120 members of the local National Guard, the 109th Infantry stationed in Honesdale, New Milford, Scranton and Tamaqua, will be deployed to Afghanistan in December, according to Captain Cory Angell of Fort Indiantown Gap.

Fifteen of the troops will come from Company A, which is housed at the Lemnitzer Armory in Honesdale. Two soldiers from Honesdale will be deployed to Sinai, Egypt.

Cory said that a total of 700 guardsmen will be deployed from the above areas and from Lewisburg, Williamsport, Sunbury, Philadelphia and Wellsboro.

The troops will report to Fort Bragg, NC on December 3.

Pocono conservation land initiative unveiled by DCNR secretary

HAWLEY, PA — Michael DiBerardinis, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), was scheduled to give a keynote speech at a seminar at the PPL Environmental Learning in Hawley on November 7, to explain the creation of a Conservation Landscape Initiative (CLI) for the Pocono region. According to the DCNR web site, “CLIs can serve as places to pilot, study and advance new concepts and provide learning experiences that can lead to statewide policy and procedural changes.”

Chris Novak, a spokeswoman for DiBerardinis, said the secretary would explain that CLIs are one of the tools being used to help change the mission of the DCNR from one of just managing state parks to one of elevating the value of the state’s natural resources.

The CLIs are formed by working with multiple agencies, and the one in the Poconos will have land protection and tourism components. Novak said DiBerardinis would not be talking about any grants connected with the CLI.

The seminar was jointly created by the DCNR Bureau of Forestry, Pike County Conservation District, Pike County Cooperative Extension, Pike County Office of Community Planning and Pike Conservation Partnership.

Grants available to upgrade municipal sewage facilities

HARRISBURG, PA — Municipalities, municipal authorities and public school districts in Pennsylvania have until Saturday, December 15 to apply for a portion of $1 million that is available to help finance improvements to existing sewage facilities and drinking water systems using new or innovative technologies.

The application form is available electronically at www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Growing Greener Innovative Technology.

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund has been a significant part of the commonwealth’s water quality improvement efforts for two decades. The program combines state and federal funds to upgrade aging infrastructure, but the federal government has cut the fund by nearly half in just the last three years. In 2004, $1.34 billion was available, compared to $886 million last year. Pennsylvania’s share of the fund was cut by $30 million to $27 million.

“These steep cuts jeopardize our ability to tackle the serious environmental and economic infrastructure challenges facing our communities,” said Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty.

Sullivan West asks state to investigate faulty construction

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The board of the Sullivan West Central School District has called for a state investigation into building problems at its Lake Huntington high school. Superintendent Kenneth Hilton has been directed by the board to write a letter to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, requesting that inquiries be made into the possibility of recovering taxpayer money for shortcomings in the building’s construction.

“Someone should go to prison for authorizing the use of substandard materials at the high school,” said Noel van Swol. “It is now up to the attorney general to intervene in this situation and clean up this mess.”

Among the problems that have been discovered are the use of an inferior substance called gypcrete in the flooring, leaks in the roof, seepage into the foundation, drainage issues and substandard athletic fields.

An investigation was requested once before, in 2005, but the board was informed that the attorney general’s office had no jurisdiction. However, according to Shaun Sensiba, the board now has a better idea of what the attorney general’s office will and will not consider.

The school district also currently has lawsuits pending against the designer and construction managers of the building.

Police search for clues on suspicious fatal fire in Lake Ariel

HONESDALE, PA — State police suspect that a vehicle fire that claimed the life of Steven Palacino of Lake Ariel on October 27, originally thought to have been an accident, may have been deliberate. The police are attempting to establish a time line for the incident, and are seeking an individual who appeared to be the first one on the scene. The person in question knocked on the door of the house in front of which the vehicle was burning to alert the occupants to the danger, but left the site of the incident prior to the arrival of the police.

The event occurred at approximately 3:30 a.m. at 3100 Lake Ariel Highway (SR 191), in Cherry Ridge Township. Anyone with information is requested to call the state police at 570/253-7126.

NYS agencies file petitions to reverse NIETC designation

ALBANY, NY — The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have filed separate petitions with the federal Department of Energy (DOE) seeking a rehearing on the agency’s recent decision to make a large swath of New York State part of a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC). The designation facilitates the efforts of New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) to build a high-voltage power line along the Upper Delaware, using federally granted powers of eminent domain to seize land as necessary.

The PSC argues that though the DOE concluded that consumers were adversely affected by transmission congestion in the area, it did not measure those costs or the costs of new facilities. It also argues that the DOE did not justify including an area that covers most of the state. The DEC seeks a rehearing on the grounds that the DOE failed to prepare an adequate environmental assessment or comply with the requirements of a variety of other acts, including the Endangered Species Act.