Reducing trash through fees and bans on plastic products, including bags, bottles, straws and Styrofoam, is becoming more common, and two of the largest cities in the Chesapeake region have done so. What’s the outcome — for the environment, businesses, consumers and local government revenue?
Donna Morelli
March 07, 2019
Local Government ,Pollution 
0 CommentsTom Schueler loves acronyms.
So when the executive director of the Chesapeake Stormwater Network saw an opportunity to use “BUBBA” as shorthand for a stormwater management competition, he jumped on it. He even managed to embed an acronym in an acronym: The full name for the semi-annual competition of creative and efficient stormwater projects is the “Best Urban BMP in the Bay...
Donna MorelliMarch 05, 2019Local Government 0 CommentsBalancing land conservation with the needs of a growing community is no easy task. Some communities have tackled the problem by partnering with nonprofit land trusts — and Silver Springs Township, (PA), is one of them.
Donna MorelliFebruary 22, 2019Conservation + Land Use,Local Government 0 CommentsCarol Parenzan became the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper in July 2015 and was charged with protecting and improving the health of the river’s watershed between its north and west branches. Shortly afterward, her first staff member came on board: a rusty-colored fluff ball of energy named “Little Keeper” Susquehanna, or Sussey for short.
The Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever is 3...
Donna MorelliFebruary 12, 2019People + Society,Pollution 0 CommentsThe Chesapeake Bay region has received $13.1 million in grants for environmental projects from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The announcement came on Dec. 3, the first day of the NFWF-hosted Chesapeake Bay Agricultural Forum, a gathering of practitioners and experts from around the watershed that took place in Lancaster, PA....
Donna MorelliJanuary 03, 2019Pollution,Wildlife + Habitat 0 CommentsThe Susquehanna River starts its 444-mile journey as a lazy creek in Cooperstown, NY. It begins as an outflow from Otsego Lake, where its southern tip abuts the town.
It then flows slowly under the Main Street Bridge before rounding a bend toward downstream destinations — farms, towns and cities in central New York and Pennsylvania — and ultimately reaching the Chesapeake Bay in...
Donna MorelliDecember 06, 2018 3 CommentsDon English strode along the mowed path through his streamside buffer on Happy Hollow Farm in southcentral Pennsylvania with the confidence of an experienced tour guide. The tiny headwater stream of Deer Creek gurgled by, hardly visible in the tangled sprays of goldenrod and deep purple bergamot growing tall in the sunny spaces between larger trees and shrubs.
The 4-acre...
Donna MorelliDecember 04, 2018Conservation + Land Use 0 CommentsFarmland preservation has become an increasing priority in Cumberland County, PA, where residential and commercial development — especially for large warehouses — is putting steady pressure on what’s left of the rural landscape. The drive to pick up the pace of farmland preservation has led to a budding partnership between the Cumberland County Department of Planning and the...
Donna MorelliNovember 14, 2018Conservation + Land Use 0 CommentsA small fish that once lived in freshwater streams throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed got a lucky break in a Pennsylvania creek this year. When Donegal Trout Unlimited restored the Lancaster County creek to protect trout and other sport fish, the rarely seen Chesapeake logperch showed up for the party.
“We build it and they come,” said Greg Wilson, a longtime member of...
Donna MorelliOctober 31, 2018Fisheries 0 CommentsA Pennsylvania power plant — accused of being one of the most polluting plants in the nation and the recipient of several fines for fish kills — is facing legal challenges once again. The Brunner Island power plant, located along the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg, may be the target of a lawsuit alleging that the plant is illegally discharging contaminants from coal ash...
Donna MorelliOctober 23, 2018Energy,Pollution 0 CommentsDonna Morelli is a staff writer for the Bay Journal based in Harrisburg. She's the former director of the Pennsylvania office of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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