PITTSBURGH, PA – Five community programs from throughout Western Pennsylvania will divide $25,000 from Dominion Foundation and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for innovation and effectiveness in making a positive impact on the Western Pennsylvania environment.

The five programs are this year’s winners of the 2011 Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards, presented annually to local organizations that demonstrate leadership, effectiveness and results in making an impact on the environment.

These five programs encompass local trail development programs, high school environmental science programs, and a large coal refuse cleanup project. They were chosen by a group of independent judges of environmental experts and PEC staff in response to a call for entries earlier this year.

With these awards, each winner will designate a $5,000 cash prize to be used in support of a nonprofit environmental program of their choice.

The winners are:

• Allegheny Valley Trails Association – Franklin (Venango County)
• Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority – Ebensburg (Cambria County)
• Greater Latrobe Senior High School – Latrobe (Westmoreland County)
• Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Trail and Sign Improvement Project – Pittsburgh (Allegheny County)
• Yellow Creek State Park, Bureau of State Parks, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Penn Run (Indiana County)

All entries were judged on the basis of their relevance to local environmental priorities, evidence of their impact on the environment, their approach to solving an environmental problem, and the environmental benefit of their work.

The Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards program is open to individuals and organizations that demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence, leadership and accomplishment, and made significant contributions toward improving Western Pennsylvania’s environment. Dominion and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council sponsor the Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards each year to encourage the community to emulate the achievements of the winning entries, thereby promoting innovative environmental efforts and enhancing the quality of life in Western Pennsylvania.

The winners will be honored at the Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 26, 2009 at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

A summary of the five winning programs is below.

2011 Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards

Winners 

Allegheny Valley Trails Association (Franklin)

The Allegheny Valley Trails Association works to acquire abandoned railways in the Allegheny River watershed and rehabilitate them into multipurpose, non-motorized recreational trails. AVTA now owns and operates the 34.2 mile Allegheny River Trail along the Allegheny River, the 12 mile Sandy Creek Trail along Sandy Creek and a total of over 330 acres. Regionally through AVTA and others, there are over 60 miles of trails that are connecting nearly 160,800 trail users per year with the great outdoors. A healthy, fully accessible recreational amenity has led to a renewed attention to the local waterways, conservation easements, restoration projects and the development of regional organizations focused on more extensive greenways efforts.

Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority (Ebensburg)

The Barnes-Watkins Refuse pile was both an environmental and public safety hazard, though little could be done to clean it up or remove it. So much refuse had been dumped along and in the river that it changed the natural course of the river. With a $4.4 million Growing Greener grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the CCCRA hired a contractor to remove and remediate the coal refuse pile. What could be reused as fuel for energy was sent to nearby electric generating stations. Once completed, a total of 1,183,000 cubic yards of material was removed, 960,000 tons of usable fuel was shipped for use as fuel for electricity, 18 acres of land were remediated and returned to usable acreage, and the water quality of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River’s first several miles were drastically improved.

Greater Latrobe Senior High School (Latrobe)

Teachers at Greater Latrobe Senior High School coordinated a student-driven conservation project that takes place on Nine Mile Run as it flows through Latrobe Rotary Park in Youngstown, Pennsylvania, close to the senior high school. As a result of this project, more than 500 students since 2007 have had the opportunity to experience environment and ecology concepts. This project also addresses a community need. Rotary Park, once underutilized, today has become the focal point for a growing environmental education program serving Greater Latrobe students from kindergarten to 12th grade. Now in its fourth year, this project has become an integral part of the environmental science curriculum.

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy – Trail and Sign Improvement Project (Pittsburgh)

The Parks Conservancy’s recent improvements through the Trail and Sign Improvement Project are creating safer trails for park users as well as improving water flow within the parks, removing invasive species, and planting native trees.

In 2010, the Conservancy and City of Pittsburgh improved almost six miles of trails throughout the city’s four regional parks. Installation of 100 new signs throughout the four regional parks was also completed as part of the project. In addition to directional signs, new interpretive signs will provide information about park history, wildlife, and restoration projects that have improved the parks. The trail improvements will have a long-lasting effect on the parks’ ecological health.

Yellow Creek State Park

Bureau of State Parks

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Penn Run)

Yellow Creek State Park is one of Pennsylvania’s 117 state parks and was created to provide opportunities for healthful outdoor recreation as well as to protect our state’s natural resources. With an emphasis on environmental education, park officials sought to identify specific items they could change about their own practices and procedures that would set an example and have application outside the park, and to convince park visitors to make behavioral changes that would result in a much wider impact. The initial goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% within five years. That goal was accomplished in just three years. The success of Yellow Creek State Park’s green initiative has resulted in a mandate that all 118 state parks in Pennsylvania adopt similar practices.

About the Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards

The Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards recognizes and honors outstanding achievements of organizations, businesses, and individuals in a wide range of environmental initiatives throughout the region and pays tribute to those that have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence, leadership, and accomplishment in their respective fields.

By sponsoring these awards, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Dominion hope to encourage the community to emulate the achievements of the successful nominees, thereby promoting innovative environmental efforts and enhancing the quality of life in Western Pennsylvania.

The Western Pennsylvania Environmental Awards program is made possible by a grant from the Dominion Foundation, which is dedicated to the economic, physical and social health of the communities served by Dominion companies.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of more than 27,600 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 14 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

Contact: Sally Tarhi, Pennsylvania Environmental Council

(412) 481-9400

WPEA@pecpa.org