The purchase is part of 2007 power purchase agreement that also includes the electricity generated at the Exelon-EPURON Solar Center in Falls Township, Bucks County. The facility will feature between 6,000 and 8,000 solar panels on a tract of land north of the Aker shipyard, and will produce up to 1.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity by the first quarter of 2009, or enough to meet the energy requirements of as many as 200 homes.

At this output, emission levels of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide that directly contribute to pollution and acid rain will be reduced by the equivalent of planting 300 acres of mature trees and offsetting the impact of cars driving as many as 50 million miles.

The Navy Yard project represents as much as a $12 million investment that will create approximately 40 construction jobs and 10 permanent jobs. Together with the Falls Township site, the aggregate project is the largest solar photovoltaic installation on the East Coast.

"With the cost of fossil fuels continuing to rise, renewable energy technologies like solar, wind, and biomass are becoming increasingly attractive and cost-competitive," said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty. "This innovative solar project will take idle land and turn it into an asset for the commonwealth by creating energy, jobs and a stable, reliable supply of electricity to serve our families and businesses."

(PA Environment Digest - 5/2/08)

"The costs of cleaning up a leaking underground heating oil tank can be a substantial burden on homeowners and small businesses," said McGinty. "Anyone with a leaking underground heating oil tank should know that help is available from the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania and in-state businesses can take advantage of this opportunity and begin a cleanup as soon as possible."

Grants are available through the underground heating oil tank cleanup reimbursement program for those who have underground heating oil tanks that have experienced a leak anytime since Jan. 30, 1998. The tanks must have a capacity of 3,000 gallons or less and be used to store heating oil that is consumed where it is stored. The reimbursement is limited to the actual costs of corrective action or $4,000, whichever is less. A $1,000 deductible must first be paid by the tank owner. The reimbursement and deductible apply on a per tank basis.

Corrective action costs that are eligible for reimbursement include excavating, emptying, cleaning, removing, transporting and disposing of a leaking storage tank; excavating contaminated soil; transporting and disposing wastes; and restoring disturbed or contaminated areas by backfilling, grading and re-vegetating. The costs associated with removing underground storage tanks that have not leaked or repairing aboveground heating oil tanks - including those located in basements or cellars - are not eligible for reimbursement. For more information about the underground heating oil tank cleanup reimbursement program, visit: www.depweb.state.pa.us keyword: storage tank cleanup, or e-mail: tankcleanup@state.pa.us.

(PADEP - 4/2/08)

Senate Bill 1330 (D. White-R-Indiana) establishes a process to resolve objections between a surface land owner and the mineral rights estate owner regarding the location of coal bed methane wells or access roads.

The legislation was the product of a process initiated after the Committee held a public hearing on the subject last year. Under the bill, a well operator intending to drill or construct an access road must provide written notification to the surface owner. The notifications must advise the surface owner of the right to file objections with a Coal Bed Methane Review Board, which is established by the bill. The Board will work with the surface owner and well operator and attempt to find common ground on the location of the well and accompanying access roads.

Senate Bill 1062 (Wonderling-R-Montgomery) is designed to encourage the redevelopment of contaminated property known as "Brownfield sites." The bill authorizes the state Secretary of Environmental Protection to enter into redevelopment agreements with developers who remediate Brownfield sites, with developers eligible to receive a reimbursement of up to 75 percent of the remediation costs.

Senate Resolution 294 (M.J. White-R-Venango) addresses a forest management plan adopted by the Allegheny National Forest in February. The plan imposes new restrictions on the development of mineral rights underneath the forest. More than 90 percent of the minerals underneath the forest are privately held, and were retained when the surface was sold to create the forest.

Senate Resolution 294 urges the federal government to re-evaluate the plan, and reaffirms that when the Commonwealth allowed land to be acquired to create the Allegheny National Forest it did not confer any authority to the U.S. government to diminish the Commonwealth's property rights or the rights of private property owners. A similar House Resolution 693 was passed the House in April. (PA Environmental Digest-5/5/08)