Pocono Source Water Protection Collaborative
Minutes of meeting
January 28, 2014, Pike County Training Center, 1:05 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
“Caucus in the Eddies” – Introductions and Potential Sources of Contamination
Chris Schlegel
Peter Wulfhorst
Marian Keegan, R.F.
Thomas Sekula
Michael Reisenwitz
Delaware Township Sewage Enforcement Officer
Education Specialist, Penn State Extension; Member, Twin and Walker Creek
Watershed Conservancy
Director of Community Conservation, Hemlock Farms Conservancy
Hemlock Farms Community Association Water Company, Licensed Water Operator
Brodhead Creek Regional Authority
The Med Return Box program has not begun in Pike County. It is unknown if drop-offs to these locations have
begun in Wayne or Monroe Counties. The Pike County Commissioners seemed amenable to the Collaborative’s
request during the workshop meeting on January 23rd that the press release for the Med Box Return includes a bullet
point that dropping off medicines also protects our drinking water and supports source water protection.
The West Virginia chemical contamination of drinking waters was raised, and the “SmartTalk” Radio broadcast
regarding this issue in Pennsylvania was reviewed. Contamination of drinking water by a salt pile in a Pike County
community, and contamination of drinking water by illegal dumpsites and abandoned landfills were mentioned. The
Pocono SWP Collaborative Partners will review and discuss at a future meeting the 2013 Illegal Dump Survey of
Pike County.
“Many drops make a river” – Partnerships
PRWA Outreach to Water Company Operators - Chris mentioned several training opportunities being offered by
PRWA in context of the mandatory education required for licensing water company operators. Tom reinforced that
all the burden for source water protection should not fall on the water company operators and should be shared with
those who drink the water. A spark of awareness for source water protection (SWP) at the community level is
needed for the operators to get involved in developing a SWP plan.
Mike Reisenwitz from the Brodhead Creek Regional Authority, also known as “Dr. Waters” for his source water
education and protection programs was welcomed and invited to be a Partner in the Collaborative. Mike shared
educational approaches that worked and some that did not, as well as emergency notification procedures that are in
place in Monroe County. Pike County has a new EMA, George Boedeker, and the Partners would like to invite him
to a future meeting to talk about emergency notification procedures, following up on the information provided by the
previous EMA Roger Maltby during our October 22, 2013 Collaborative meeting.
“Ripples of agreement”
Marian, Peter, John Chapman and Tim Gartner attended the January 23rd workshop of the Pike County
Commissioners to discuss our March 22nd Forum and invite the Commissioners to present the “Welcome.” The
Commissioners agreed to place our regular meetings and our Forum on the Pike County Calendar, and the Pocono
SWP Collaborative will attend the March 5th Public Meeting of the Commissioners to publically announce the forum
and present the importance of people to attend this forum.
“Reflections of our waters” – Planned Events, Needed Resources
Brochure – Our graphic artist is making final changes, and then the brochure will be sent to Julie Kollar at WREN for
final approval. Printing will be done by Nationwide Printing and ready for distribution at the February 25 th
Collaborative meeting.
Pocono Source Water Protection Forum, March 22nd, (World Water Day)
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Save the Date – flyer completed and distributed for posting on websites; need a copy with 2 flyers on one
page to make printing copies more cost-efficient.
Press Release – mention the Partners; get final approval from WREN; send to the Press.
Article for Community newsletters - needed to promote the Collaborative and Forum.
Agenda – Will Price, Common Waters is the Keynote Speaker. We dropped the well construction from the
agenda. Tim Gartner may not be available, so Mike Reisenwitz will ask permission to be our standby
speaker to talk about what is a source water protection plan and why is it important. Al Guiseppe will speak
about working with municipal officials to protect groundwater. Time slots and breaks were discussed.
Vendors – Chris Schlegel (wells); Penn State (Master Well Owner); Pike County Conservation District
(Watershed Protection); Lackawaxen River Conservancy; Hemlock Farms Conservancy/HFCA; Spotts,
Stevens, and McCoy; Brian Oram (Groundwater Guardians); DEP were mentioned as possible vendors.
Peter, Chris and Marian toured the Pike County Training Center to finalize the venue.
Shohola Environmental Day will be May 21st – Peter Wulfhorst and Tim Gartner will present the Groundwater Flow
Model and Enviroscape.
“Full Steam Ahead”
NEXT MEETING. Tuesday, February 25, 1 pm, Pike County Training Center, Lords Valley. Facilitator: Marian
Keegan; Recorder of Minutes: Tim Gartner. Main purpose: finalize the March 22nd Forum and discuss emergency
notification with the new Pike County EMA George Boedeker.
ACTIONS
Marian will distribute the 2013 Final Report, Illegal Dump Survey of Pike County to the Partners with the February
Agenda.
Marian will invite George Boedeker, Pike County EMA to our next meeting to talk about emergency notification
procedures.
Marian will email a Partner Form to Mike Reisenwitz.
Peter will finalize the brochure with our graphic artist and WREN by February 5th.
Marian will contract with Nationwide Printing to print 5,000 copies of the brochure by February 25 th.
Peter will ask Sally Corrigan to make a 2-on-1-page Save the Date flyer by January 31st.
Peter will finalize Press Release, send to Julie Kollar for approval, then distribute to Press by February 25th.
Marian will email Press Contacts to Peter.
Marian will write an article for community newsletters to promote the Collaborative and Forum by February 5 th.
Peter will distribute the article to communities and municipalities.
Peter or Sally will distribute a forum flyer with the agenda before the February 25 th meeting. This needs approval of
WREN before final printing.
Peter will guide the presenters and secure their needs for the forum.
Chris will guide the vendors and secure their needs for the forum.
Sally Corrigan will secure and set up the refreshments for the forum.