earth day

Speaking to a room full of happy citizens in Westmoreland County, Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein congratulated them on the new sewer extension project that will be a real game changer for their community. “I am proud to mark Earth Day 2012 with this partnership between Rural Development and the Community and it is infrastructure projects like this that ensures that rural communities have their basic needs met in terms of clean water and modern, up-to-date sewer facilities,” said Adelstein.   The ceremony highlighted the new $5.6 million dollar regional sewer extension project that will upon completion provide over 450 new homes and numerous businesses in the area with connectivity to the Coles Point wastewater treatment plant.

Also speaking at the event, Mr. Darryl Fisher-Chairman of the Westmoreland Board of Supervisor and local business owner said, “We would not be able to move forward in this community without this critical assistance.  We have several areas of the community where land just would not be suitable for individual septic systems to construct homes and businesses and this new extension will provide us viable options for the future of this region.

USDA Rural Development State Director Trina George and numerous local officials and leaders were in two Mississippi counties this spring to commemorate Earth Day and highlight USDA’s commitment to good environmental practices.

State Director George met with officials of the Tallahala Water Association in Bay Springs, Mississippi to mark a recent loan and grant from USDA Rural Development to the water association for improvements to their existing system. The event was held at the office of the water association in Bay Springs.

What better way to celebrate Earth Day last month  than to recognize projects that are environmentally friendly and to educate our elementary school youths.  That's exactly what we did in northwest Missouri. The Missouri Rural Development (RD) staff partnered with the Senior Citizens Nursing Home District of Ray County and the Richmond Sunrise Elementary School for one celebration and with the City of Carrollton and Carrollton Elementary School for the second celebration.

In Richmond, Debra Berry, USDA Rural Development Area Specialist, talked with second graders in the Sunrise Elementary School about energy conservation and recycling and a poster contest was held for the students to demonstrate their creativity about the environment.  The gym full of students, teachers and the principal, showed great knowledge and excitement about caring for the environment.  When the top three poster winners were announced smiles lit up all the faces.  One of the student winners whose father was present to see the award had to call her mother at work - what excitement!

USDA Rural Development in Nebraska celebrated with the City of Pawnee City last month in honor of Earth Day, the recent delivery of a multi-bin recycling trailer.  City officials, school children and those instrumental to the project attended.  The ribbon was cut signifying the community dedication to this project and a plaque from Rural Development was presented applauding the City for securing the funds needed.  Rural Development assisted with a grant of $8,000 leveraged with $6,555 from the City.  A host of children took part in the event and poster contest winners were announced.

The recycling trailer establishes a stable, sustainable recycling connection for all citizens of Pawnee City.  A City staff member shuttles the trailer to a regional recycling center at least twice a month.  The Pawnee City Student Council leaders volunteered to assist in the oversight and maintenance of the trailer and were present at the event to give a demonstration.

On April 28, 2011, Fall River Students attended a special school assembly and were joined by Local, State and National Officials in a 2011 Earth Day Celebration.   They honored their village’s new wastewater regionalization project, which was recently selected by USDA as a National 2011 Earth Day Project.  When completed, the enhanced system will provide adequate wastewater treatment to the Village of Fall River; now and into the future; by preventing untreated seepage from the system into area ground water, nearby creek, and the Crawfish River.

The event included a formal program where USDA Wisconsin Rural Development State Director, Stan Gruszynski, presented the Village of Fall River with a National Earth Day Award, and announced that the Village had been approved for a $6.4 million Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant combination from USDA Rural Development. Funds will be used to upgrade and regionalize the village’s wastewater treatment system. Attendees were also treated to a performance by the Students, who sang Earth Day songs to kick-off the event.

After a long, blizzard-filled winter, Earth Day was celebrated April 29 in Lidgerwood, North Dakota.  USDA Rural Development delivered the latest in a number of loans and grants to help offset the cost of a $1.58 million project to provide safe drinking water to the city.  Lidgerwood’s leaders first learned of arsenic in their water supply twenty-three years ago.  After a number of other methods failed to solve the problem, the city eventually joined a regional rural water district.  Rural Development North Dakota State Director, Jasper Schneider said the USDA is proud to partner with the city and other funding sources to make safe and reliable water a reality for its 700 citizens.

USDA Rural Development State Director, Vernita F. Dore announced an award of more than $3.1 million to the Town of Iva for sewer improvements as part of an Earth Day celebration in Iva, South Carolina.  After the ceremony, Ms. Dore, Town of Iva Mayor Bobby Gentry and members of the Crescent High School Future Farmers of America commemorated Earth Day by planting a Japanese red maple tree outside the Iva Civic Center.

Earth Day is observed annually on April 22nd to raise awareness about the role each person can play to protect vital natural resources and safeguard the environment. Since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, the event has expanded to include participation by citizens and governments in more than 195 countries.

Energy savings was the theme for the Earth Day event held with Garfield County in Burwell, Nebraska in April.  Rural residents gathered at the Garfield County Library with USDA Rural Development Nebraska State Director Maxine Moul and staff.  Garfield County was presented with a plaque from Rural Development for securing the funding needed to acquire a more efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) unit for the Library that serves more than 1,900 rural residents.

USDA Rural Development provided funding that was leveraged with funds from Garfield County and the Friends of the Garfield County Library to replace the old heating and cooling units with a more efficient HVAC system consisting of three new 13 air conditioners and heat pumps with backup heaters.  The improvements will help the overall budget of the Library through the energy savings.

Pioneer Care has provided quality senior care services in Fergus Falls, Minn. since 1928. That tradition will continue thanks to a new 105-bed facility that celebrated its grand opening on April 15 as part of USDA Rural Development’s annual Earth Day celebration.

Rural Development financed the construction of the new 105-bed facility with over $21 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through its direct and guaranteed community facilities loan program. Over $2 million was raised through a private capital campaign.

Earlier this month we were honored to have Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture Doug O’Brien join USDA Rural Development Michigan State Director James J. Turner at our Earth Day ceremony in Buena Vista Township.  The township board of trustees was there and Township Supervisor Dwayne A. Parker served as our master of ceremonies.

Locally known as “BV Township,” Buena Vista is located next to Saginaw and like many rural communities, its sewer infrastructure was in a state of disrepair when they approached USDA for help.