Permeable Parking Lot Project

Courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Site

Permeable Parking Lot Project

The US EPA's Permeable Parking Lot project was completed in October 2009 at the EPA Edison Research Facility in Edison, NJ.

The permeable parking lot is made of 3 different surfaces that capture rain and collect the runoff in a basin beneath the parking lot.

The parking lot helps the environment because it reduces storm water volume flowing to receiving waters, improves water quality by removing solids and other environmental contaminants, and helps to reduce urban heat island effects that occur with conventional parking lots. As part of on going research, all of these features will be monitored over time.

Schuyler County Marcellus Shale Risk Assessment- Executive Summary

Executive Summary prepared by Kevin Dowd

This report provides a spatial analysis of the various risks associated with Marcellus Shale well pad placement in Schuyler County. The analysis utilizes a weighted overlay methodology to determine the environmental and community risk of each piece of county land, considering surface, subsurface and proximate features. An
overall risk score is then tabulated by combining the environmental and community risk components.

Excluding wetland acreage, over 60 percent of County land registered as moderate risk. Approximately 5 percent of lands fall into the high risk category. Of note, a large portion of high risk areas are located in the western portion of the County, due to a combination of hydrological features and inadequate infrastructure
access. Conversely, the largest concentrations of low risk areas are located immediately west of Seneca Lake in Reading and Tyrone, due to transportation networks, low population densities, and land use classifications. Using a preliminary survey of parcels encumbered by third party gas leases, the report found similar risk dispersion to the overall County: approximately 30 percent of leased parcels were classified as low risk, 65 percent as moderate risk, and 5 percent as high risk.
To view the entire assessment please click here

Regional Land Use Class Graduates 34 Leaders

On April 29, 2010, the Southern Finger Lakes / Southern Tier region saw its first graduating class of local leaders trained through Pace University’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance program. Thirty-four participants from Tioga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung and Steuben counties completed an intensive series of four-day courses on land use practice, law and community decision making in New York State.

The training, hosted by Watkins Glen International, received $10,000 in financial support from both Cargill, Inc.’s Watkins Glen plant and the Global Partnership Fund. Don Chutas, Cargill Salt's Plant Manager explained that "Cargill looks to partner with higher education institutions that provide access to the best people and ideas relevant to land use." According to Chutas, The LULA program accomplishes just that by providing environmental conservation education to the area's leaders.

Originally developed by Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, over 1,000 local land use leaders have attended the popular LULA trainings in the Hudson River Valley. Cornell University’s Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI), with financial support from Cornell’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center, has taken the lead in partnership with both Pace and Albany Law School’s Government Law Center to make the training available in other parts of the state. The LULA training has won multiple awards, including the 2009 National Leadership Award for founder John Nolon from the American Planning Association.
Organizers for the training included the Cornell Cooperative Extension associations and planning departments for the five counties, as well as CaRDI and Farm Bureau. Organizers hope to offer future trainings in the region on an annual basis.

SCHUYLER COUNTY PLANT SWAP

Plant and Seed Swap

MONDAY, MAY 17th 2010
Time: 11am-1pm

Held at the:
Human Services Complex
323 Owego Street
Montour Falls NY 14865
Room 120


Set up anytime from 10am on.
Please have all your things out of the room by 2pm at the latest.
Please be responsible for your own clean up.
Bring baggies, digging spoons and whatever else you think would help others take any new items home.
Horticulture staff will be on hand to answer questions.
You do not need to bring a plant to take one home!!

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!