Asbury Woods Nature Center (AWNC)has turned green! Not only green in color, but also in building techniques. During our recent expansion project, a green, vegetative roof was installed. AWNC and Millcreek Township School District were awarded an Energy Harvest grant from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to add this green technique to the expansion project. The designers, Roofscapes Inc. of Philadelphia, designed the roof to not only look pretty, but also for functionality. A green roof is ideal in situations where a building is being built (or renovated in Asbury’s case) and a bigger footprint is made, causing a stormwater retention basin to be needed.

Advantages

• Green roofs absorb about 75% of rainwater runoff that would have ended up running off into retention basin
• Smaller retention basins can be used.
• Green roofs moderate daily fluctuations in a building’s temperature - acting as a cooling agent during the summer months (a typical asphalt roof can reach 120° versus the vegetative roof
  reaching only about 80°) - helping to insulate a building during the winter months.

The roof and plants were installed by Lichtenfels Nursery of Johnstown, PA. Special drainage mats were laid as the base to the roof holding 4”of special mineral/soil mix that the plant are planted in. The plants are mainly alpine plants able to adapt to the harsh temperature extremes seen on roofs (from wet rain and snow to dry scorching sun). The majority are sedum, talinum, and allium.

The annual maintenance of the green roof is very simple. No mowing or watering is needed once the plants are established. All that is needed is to pull weeds or any tree seedlings that have taken up root on the roof about twice a year.

Now that the snow has fallen, not much can be seen up on the rooftop. Once the snow has melted, and the sun is shining again, come on out to Asbury Woods Nature Center and take a peek at the green roof.

Written by Julie Blackman, Watershed Educator, AWNC

On May 27, 2005, Penn State University was awarded a Soil Erosion and Sediment Control grant from the Great Lakes Commission’s Great Lakes Basin Program totaling $43,350 to address stormwater management infrastructure failures at three locations on the Penn State Behrend campus. PA Sea Grant prepared and submitted this grant application and Urban Engineers Erie, Inc. was hired and has finalized the design for best management practices (BMPs) to substantially reduce erosion and to control the introduction of sediments into Trout Run, a tributary of Fourmile Creek which runs through campus. Also completed is the identification of additional green infrastructure improvements that may be implemented on campus in the future.

With design completed, PA Sea Grant has authored two more applications which, if funded, will be used to construct these BMPs to implement the design recommendations. An application was submitted to the Pennsylvania DEP for Growing Greener funds totaling $150,900 on March 3, 2006. A matching application requesting $75,000 in Great Lakes Commission GLB Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control funds was submitted on March 14, 2006. PA Sea Grant has obtained a notice of award from the Great Lakes Commission. If the Growing Greener application is funded, construction is expected to occur during the Summer of 2007.

The overwhelming impact on the Walnut Creek watershed by the users of the Millcreek Mall came to the forefront of local environmental issues in August, 2001 with the discovery of a huge amount of deposited litter and trash on the banks of Walnut Creek north of the J.C. Penney store at the Mall.

Litter is often blown into Walnut Creek, which borders the Millcreek Mall on the north, and then is carried downstream into Lake Erie. Meetings with the Mall management brought about a cleanup and temporary snow fencing to catch the litter before blowing into the creek. Because it became apparent that more permanent environmental measures were needed, the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie appealed directly to the Cafaro Corporation, the Millcreek Mall’s parent company, in a March 13, 2005 letter. As a result, a significant response from the Cafaro Corporation followed. Plastic construction fencing was erected and regular cleanups were begun and continue today.

There are still other concerns regarding litter that enters Walnut Creek at other ocations upstream fom the Mall. It is our hope that other land owners will be as cooperative and responsible as the Cafaro Corporation.

Jerry Skrypzak,
S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie

For years, City officials have struggled with what to do with McClelland Park located on the City of Erie’s upper east side. Perhaps steps have finally been taken to determine its fate. The City has submitted a $25,000.00 grant proposal in partnership with the Friends of McClelland Park, Mercyhurst College, St. Luke’s School and the Lake Erie Region onservancy to develop a Master Site Plan for the
Park.

The plan will look at ways to add improvements to the park, while providing protection for the large tract of remaining green space otherwise known as our urban forest.

The park also remains part of an ongoing study to develop an east side greenway plan that includes areas along the new Eastside Access Highway, the mouth and other areas within the McDannel Run watershed, and even area as far south as the county-owned Sixmile Creek Park.

McDannel Run is tubed and flows underground just north of East 33rd Street, re emerging south of East 32nd Street and flowing through McClelland Park. It briefly disappears underground again before reaching sunlight on the GE property. It then curves west, crosses Franklin Avenue and flows through the John Horan Garden Apartments complex. It ducks beneath East Sixth Street and then continues to run free to the lake.

Parks and protected open-spaces are vital to our quality of life, provide recreational opportunities, and increase educational opportunities for our local community. All of the partners are very excited about this upcoming project.

Written by Sarah Galloway, City of Erie

PLEWA was one of many returning partners thatparticipated in the third annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC)! The most recent ICC was held on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005. Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie ICC takes place along the Lake Erie Shoreline and tributaries leading into Lake Erie. This “Watershed Cleanup” is an excellent way to meet others in the great outdoors, while making a difference for our local watersheds.

Cleaning up is only part of the event. A large part involves education, as well. Data cards are used by volunteers to identify the types, amounts and locations of trash that are being picked up. The data cards are then compiled to determine the numbers of specific waste types that are collected, to identify problem areas that need to be addressed, and to help create longlasting solutions to reduce the litter and debris. The educational benefits of ICC are staggering, as students, educators, and the public are given a first-hand opportunity to participate in the cleanup, to initiate solutions to control litter, and to encourage recycling.

International Coastal Cleanup…

• Began in Texas in 1986.
• Now over 120 countries and most coastal states of the United States participate.
• Is a one-day effort to remove trash and debris from shorelines and stream banks.
• Takes dedicated volunteers, committed to a cleaner and healthier environment.
• Over 1,050 volunteers participated in ICC 2003 and 2004
• Over 44,400 pounds of trash and debris were removed
• Over 50 miles of streams and Lake Erie shoreline were cleaned.
• Was so successful, it was awarded with two honors
  • A Western Pennsylvania Environmental Award, as a finalist
  • Erie County Citation for Community Leadership
• Succeeds because of the many dedicated volunteers who give of their time to pick up trash discarded by others and to take time to documentthat for educational purposes.

Because volunteers are essential, YOU are invited to participate in ICC ‘06. Student participation is also strongly encouraged. If you can give three hours of your time, and would like to spend it outside, near your favorite stream or beach, please contact Donald J.Benczkowski of the PA Department of Environmental
Protection, at 814-217-9634.

Financed through a 2001 Growing Greener grant, the Baker Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) was chartered in February, 2001. The impetus to form a group arose from the growing concern in the community about the deteriorating condition of Baker Creek, especially as it flows through the Borough of North East, PA in Erie County. Baker Creek originates in the ridge south of the borough, flows through North East Township, through the borough, joins with Sixteenmile Creek at the western border of the borough, and empties into Lake Erie.

Sections of the creek are part of municipal property, and this encouraged the group to be able to apply for financing, working cooperatively with the Borough officials. The 2001 grant was used to publicize the effort, to hold organizational meetings, to sponsor a Creek Clean-Up Day, and to print informational brochures for distribution throughout the community. A storm drain stenciling project will be complete in Summer 2002.

The response has been gratifying. As the community?s awareness of Baker Creek?s condition has heightened, property owners along the creek have started to work on reducing pollutants, and also on reconstruction and replantings. Other community groups have become affiliated, including boy scout troops, church organizations, senior citizens, the North East Cultural Center, and the high school ecology club. The BCWA received a 2002 Growing Greener grant to do an engineering analysis of this portion of Baker Creek, which will enable an action plan to be developed. Once the action plan is in place, the group will work over a course of years to repair, restore, and rehabilitate Baker Creek.

Diana Hatfield, Secretary, BCWA

In March of 1999 on the corner of West 8th and Bayfront Parkway, Country Fair purchased a parcel of property and decided to build a new Country Fair at this location. This site is also adjacent to the severely eroding eastern bank of Cascade Creek. The S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie Fishing Club along with other interested groups approached Country Fair about numerous environmental concerns related to the site.

With the excellent cooperation of Country Fair and many other partners, including the Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force, Strong Vincent Environmental Science Class, Jr. PLEWA, Alice Sjolander of the French Creek Project, Willow Construction, the Erie County Conservation District, and the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie, PLEWA applied for and received a Growing Greener Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection to stabilize 250 feet of the Cascade Creek streambank protecting it from future erosion problems and reducing the amount of sediment entering the stream.

Not only did Country Fair provide match monies for the project, but continued as a good neighbor with the installation of underground stormwater retention basins along with oil and grease separators placed in the catch basins. Three rows of Gabion Baskets, MacMat, and erosion control fencing were installed to stabilize the bank from soil loss and provide a protected area for planting over 400 seedlings, live stakes, and bare root plants of native species. These were planted along the streambank by partnering volunteers.

This project was the first project to be completed under the direction of PLEWA and is a direct result of the successful private/public collaboration between Country Fair, PLEWA, and the many other partners involved. Country Fair and the S.O.N.S. keep up with the on-going maintenance of the project site and a sign commemorating the project and its many partners has been erected.

The S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie Fishing Club established the first erosion control project on Cascade Creek with recycled Rip-Rap stone from the old railroad bridge at Front Street and State Street, now known as the Bayfront Parkway at State Street. (more…)

On August 7, 2002, PLEWA received an award notification from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for an Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection Grant in the amount of $93,130.00. In preparing the grant application, PLEWA forged partnerships with Gannon University, Mercyhurst College, the Erie County Conservation District (ECCD), and various stakeholder groups within the watersheds of Sixteenmile, Sevenmile, Sixmile, Elk, and Crooked Creeks and McDannel Run.

The grant seeks funds to support a variety of initiatives to be carried out from July 2002 through June 2005, including detailed assessment of the streams in the targeted watersheds. The grant funds PLEWA’s Executive Coordinator position and a variety of planning and public education activities. It will also help establish an office for PLEWA at the ECCD’s Headwaters Conservation Park Natural Resource Center.

PLEWA hopes to continue the important work of facilitating the formation of citizen groups focused on watershed issues and reduction of non-point source pollution. In order to achieve all of our goals, PLEWA needs to involve many more people in its planning and pollution abatement efforts. Present PLEWA members can help by simply sharing their newsletter with a friend or co-worker who may not already be involved in watershed improvement activities. Anyone who wants to get connected with other concerned individuals or organizations in their watershed can contact Sarah Galloway at 825-6403 for more information about Lake Erie Watershed activities. The Lake Erie watershed is a great place to live, but we can work together to make it even better!