State funds wind turbine in Pike park

MILFORD - A state environmental grant announced Wednesday will provide for sewage facilities and construction of a 10-kilowatt wind turbine at Promised Land State Park. The grants, totalling some $2.7 million in Pike, were part of Governor Edward G. Rendell’s announcement of $65 million in statewide grants going to 50 of 67 Keystone counties. Rendell said the state is taking aggressive steps to clean up its rivers and streams, improve parks, revitalize abandoned industrial sites and protect open space and preserve farmland. Voters in May approved a $625 million bond issue to clean up rivers and streams; protect natural areas, open spaces and working farms; and shore up key programs to improve quality of life and revitalize communities across the commonwealth. At Promised Land State Park in Pike, $75,000 pays for a 10-kilowatt wind turbine at the park office; and $2.6 million will provide water and sewerage systems at the park to service Pickeral Point and Deerfield Campgrounds, complete with flush comfort/ shower facilities. In neighboring Monroe County, Middle Smithfield Township gets $357,000 to fund the conversion of the existing wastewater treatment plant, and Stroud Township won $250,000 for acquisition of the 221- acre Glen Brook Golf Course. Statewide, the program funds $7,779,480 to the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts for farmers enrolled in Pennsylvania’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in the 59 counties of the Susquehanna, Potomac and Ohio River Watersheds. The money will enable farmers to implement best management practices on their farms to reduce runoff nonpoint source pollution. Nearly all of Pennsylvania is enrolled in CREP except the eight counties in the Delaware River watershed. The commonwealth’s program is the nation’s largest.