Delaware Estuary Program

Amy Alsfeld-Nazdrowicz from the JCM Environmental Sciences Branch is speaking today at the 3rd Annual Delaware Estuary and Environmental Summit. Amy's paper on Wetland Restoration was accepted as part of the program and her presentation is this afternoon.

See page 20 in the program here for more information: http://www.delawareestuary.org/scienceandresearch/Science_Conf/SC09/2009%20Conference%20Summit%20Program%20v2.pdf

Congratulations Amy on this honor.

Here is a link to a news story about the conference:

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901130362

Amy is the lead scientist on all of the JCM Environmental Wetland and Habitat Restoration and Creation projects. She handles everything involved in the process including: Site Selection, Site Study, Design, Construction Oversight and Monitoring.

You can contact Amy at amy@jcmenv.com or by calling (302) 737-9335 X106 or visit www.jcmenv.com .


It's sweeping the country like wildflowers. --Samuel Goldwyn

Builders as Heroes? Don't Laugh before Reading!

Last year Jim McCulley published an article in the Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal that is worth reading again:


http://jcmenv.com/MARE.pdf


Contact Jim for more information at jim@jcmenv.com or http://www.jcmenv.com/


I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. --Harry S Truman

Have you wondered about those stumps along Route 1?

Jodi Kerstetter and Amy Nazdrowicz recently had an article published in the Mid-Atlantic Real Estate Journal that explained the reason for the stumps and other facts about wetland mitigation.


You can view the article here:


http://jcmenv.com/StumpArticle.pdf


or contact JCM Environmental for more information http://www.jcmenv.com/


I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. -- Willa Cather

Educational Committment

A few months ago, Howard Fortunato and Jodi Kerstetter participated in the Middletown High School career fair, and had the opportunity to speak with colleagues from other professional fields. One such person was Lori Aldrich who is part of the Business, Industry, Education (BIE) Alliance. Through this meeting, Lori discerned that JCM Environmental would be a perfect candidate to participate in the Teacher Externship Program.

The Teacher Externship Program (TEP) provides an opportunity to educators in the area to participate in an 18 hour “mentorship” with local business and industrial sites this summer. The time spent with these companies assists the educators in researching the connection between school skills and workplace skills. The objective is to research how well Delaware academic standards and classroom lessons reflect the needs of employers.

We are excited to be part of such a worthy project, and look forward to developing ongoing relationships with local educators. This type of projects fits with JCM Environmental's commitment to education which includes:

• Mentoring Glasgow High School Honors Program
• Assisting With Curriculum Development for Glasgow High and Hodgson
• Mentoring Science Students at Talley Middle School
• Grading Senior Projects at Hodgson
• Presentations to Hodgson, Smyrna High, Talley Middle, Sussex Tech, Caravel Academy and Glasgow High
• Assistance to Brader Elementary, Talley and Glasgow with Projects
• Donation of plants and labor to Kent County Vo-Tech for pond planting
• Delaware State Fair Wildlife Education Exhibit
• Many other presentations and displays at local events
  

For more information on this program, or if your business would also like to participate, please contact Jodi Kerstetter (jodi@jcmenv.com) and she will pass along the appropriate contact information or visit http://www.jcmenv.com/ for more information.

Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years. - George Burns

Corps and EPA Fighting?

There have been recent reports and released documents that indicate that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. EPA are fighting over the definition of jurisdictional waters.

You can find the article here:
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2292

The House oversight committee has released documents here:
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081216113901.pdf

This all points to the possible introduction of new legislation under the new administration to reauthorize or clarify the Clean Water Act.

The Supreme Court has spoken in the SWANCC decision and the Rapanos decision and so it will be interesting to see that spin that Congress puts on this issue if they get involved. It is definitely time for the Congress to act and hopefully they will follow the lead of the Supreme Court decisions.

We will keep you up to date here.

Environmental Words "Banned"

Lake Superior State University releases a list of "Banned" words every January. These are words that were overused in the previous year (http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php). Two environmental words or phrases were among the list of "banned" words:

"Green" or "Going Green", and

"Carbon Footprint" or "Carbon Offsetting"

I agree that these words/phrases have been overused in 2008, but just as with all things whose time has come and where there is money to be made, everyone tries to pile onto the bandwagon. Rising energy costs have made us all realize that we need to do more conservation in order to avoid emptying our wallets. This has translated into "Green" building which saves the owners money but also has a great side effect of preserving resources and protecting the environment.

With the release of the National Association of Homebuilders Green Building Guidelines Program, homebuilders now have a mechanism to build green and get certified so that the homebuying public is protected. It is extremely important the consumers recognize how important the certification process is. Since everyone is saying they are green or going green (as evidenced by the banned words), consumers must insist on the certification from a third party source to ensure that they are "green" or "going green".

Green should not become a bad word or a banned word, but it will take consumer pressure to make sure that the word is used correctly and honestly.

We will talk about Carbon later!

Happy New Year

Wishing all of our clients, subcontractors, vendors and friends a very happy new year. JCM Environmental looks forward to working with all of you this new year and making 2009 a prosperous year for all of us.

JCM will have some exciting announcements throughout 2009 as we continue to grow the business and add new services and markets.

Thank you for all of your continued support and wishing you all a happy 2009.