Environmental
agency looking ahead to 2010
By Theresa Hegel,
Intelligencer, April 20, 2009
PennEnvironment released a report detailing uses for funds to protect the environment and clean energy.
President Obama's proposed 2010 budget includes billions
of dollars to spur production of clean energy and protect the environment.
A statewide environmental advocacy group is already outlining
how those potential funds could be used in Pennsylvania.
PennEnvironment released a report last week detailing businesses,
Superfund sites, and water and sewer authorities that could and should benefit from the money.
Adam Garber of PennEnvironment said the organization broke
down the budget's "big numbers" to show how they could directly affect Pennsylvanians.
"A lot of people just don't know what's going on with the
environment in their neighborhood," he added.
The proposed federal budget would invest $150 billion in
grants for clean energy industries, such as wind, solar and geothermal power sources.
Among such companies in the state that could be eligible,
according to the report, are Gamesa, a wind turbine manufacturer with a facility in Falls, and Solardelphia, a Solebury company
that installs solar and wind systems.
Jude Webster, Solardelphia president, is thrilled at the
prospect of federal grants, estimating that they could help to increase his business by another 100 percent.
"It's a matter of getting the price down to where normal
people can afford to do it, and that's where the grants and stimulus money come into play," he said.
Right now, a 10-kilowatt solar panel system costs about
$74,000 to install. State grants already in place will likely drop the price by about $25,000, he said. Taxpayers then get
a 30 percent federal tax credit for the full price.
New federal grants could bring those prices even lower.
"We're really looking forward to it," Webster said. "It's
really going to not only help our business, but it's going to help the economy and the environment."
Obama's budget also allocates $17.2 billion over the next
10 years that would be available to clean up Superfund toxic waste sites. The money would come from reinstating fees for businesses
that pollute.
Pennsylvania has nearly 100 Superfund sites that are a national priority, Garber
said. Only New Jersey has a higher number of Superfund sites.
Of the state's toxic waste sites, 10 are considered "imminent
hazards" and likely would be funded first under the proposed budget, he added.
Superfund sites in Dublin, Montgomery Township
and Lansdale are on that short list. Whether they would be at the beginning of the receiving line
if the budget passes remains to be seen.
In Dublin, at least, the site where the chemical solvent trichloroethylene was discovered in the 1980s would likely not receive
additional funding, said Roy Seneca, EPA spokesman.
"Both (potentially responsible parties) are already agreeing
to pay for it," he said.
The proposed budget sets aside $3.9 billion to clean America's lakes and waterways, with $2.4 billion of that reserved for improvements and repairs
to wastewater treatment infrastructure.
About 850 billion gallons of raw sewage is dumped into U.S. waterways each year, and if nothing is done to repair the infrastructure, sewage pollution
is expected to reach the highest levels in history by 2025, according to PennEnvironment's report.
The report lists a number of sewage treatment facilities
in Pennsylvania that exceeded their pollution permits in 2005 and thus would benefit
the most from federal repair funds.
Plants throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties made that list.
For the most part, those violations are a reflection of
a lack of funding and not intentional dumping of pollutants, Garber said.
The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, one of those
listed, is facing about $105 million in repairs over the next decade, said spokesman Patrick Cleary.
So, certainly federal funds would be welcome, but Cleary
said his agency is not holding its breath.
"We hear all these great things about billions coming to
the area, but we don't have any criteria on who's qualified and how to get it," he said.
As with any proposed budget, "There's still a lot of what-ifs,"
he added.
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