Volume 1, Issue 4 — August 2008

ARSP Continues to an Important Phase

Greetings! We hope you have been having a wonderful summer. August has been beautiful, with the number of cool & pleasant days & evenings. Once again many, many thanks to all those who participated in our community fishing days & have been such a huge help to moving this project forward. We consider the community fishing days & our collection of fish, water & sediment samples to be a big success.

The ARSP staff & student interns have not been idle since our last fishing day. In all, the graduate students have dissected, labeled & stored 324 fish from four sites (Ford City, Springdale/Cheswick, Freeport & Turtlepoint) as well as retrieve, label & store 115 water & sediment samples from the same four sites.

The first samples of fish, water & sediment have been sent to labs at both the University of Pittsburgh & Dartmouth College. The University of Pittsburgh lab, located in Scaife Hall, is operated by Drs Pat Eagon & Frank Houghton. Frank participated in our Freeport fishing day.

The Pitt lab will be analyzing eleven composite samples of Shad & Alewife for cell proliferation. This means the fish sample will be ground together & then the tissue placed on cancer cells to assess whether or not cell growth is enhanced. This will let us know if there is something in this tissue that could be promoting cancer cell growth.

The lab at Dartmouth will be analyzing tissue from all of our channel catfish samples as well as water & sediment from the Cadogan site across from Ford City & near the shore of the Springdale/Cheswick site. This lab will be analyzing for Arsenic, Lead, Mercury, Copper, Cadmium, Chromium, Manganese, Selenium, & Zinc. The Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) set the regulations for how much metal is allowed in our drinking water. Many of these metals are harmful for human consumption if the quantity taken is too high. We are testing fish for these substances to understand how they bio accumulate metals in the water to better understand how these are affecting aquatic life & the eco system we are related to in an intimate manner.

Further analysis & types of fish to be analyzed will depend a great deal on the results of these initial analyses. Our plan is to send another set of fish samples to the lab at the UPMC Center for Environmental Oncology. This lab will analyze the fish tissue for estrogen & substances which act like estrogen as endocrine disrupters. These are called xenoestrogens & include non-ionic detergent agents such as nonylphenol & Bisphenol-A, a potent xenoestrogen associated with polycarbonate plastics. These substances are going into the river predominately from sewage treatment & water treatment facilities.

Analysis of this type is expensive & therefore we have taken a critical approach to how we go about this process. We chose Shad & Alewife because we were able to do a good comparison sample & composite sample between Freeport & Ford City. Freeport is important as a sampling site for estrogen & xenoestrogens because of the proximity of the water treatment facility there to the river & the large deposit of bio solids at the mouth of Buffalo Creek.

We truly look forward to the results from these samples, especially if these results can generate improved water quality for the Allegheny River Watershed.

Announcing a Revised & Revitalized Center for Healthy Environments & Communities (CHEC) Website!

Please check out the new Center for Health Environments & Communities website. We have made a number of changes. We hope these changes & future changes will make this a website you will want to access often. We plan to have all of our newsletters, papers, publications & data on this website in the near future as well as many, many links to various important sites with helpful information concerning many of the issues & concerns related to environmental health. Thanks to our new webmaster for CHEC, Donna Murr.

We are a community-based participatory research center, so we are asking your input into our ongoing process of designing & providing content for this website. We really desire that this website be something you will want to use over & over again because it provides helpful information as well as keeps you connected in an easy & comfortable way to other organizations & statistics. We would like to know what you think of the website, what is important for you about having a website such as this one, as well as your suggestions for what you would like to see on this site. You can provide your feedback either by emailing Chuck Christen at chec@pitt.edu or by going directly to our website & clicking on the button for our feedback survey www.chec.pitt.edu.

As always thank you for your help & participation in this project. We look forward to building this into something that is sustainable & useful for you!

In Other News...

Below are some of the statistics from our Community Fishing Days.

Fish Caught During Community Fishing Days

Ford City May 10, 2008				Springdale/Cheswick May 31, 2008
Type of Fish	Count	% of Total		Type of Fish	Count	% of Total
Alewife	11	13.60%		Alewife
Bluegill				Bluegill	1	1.1%
Crappie Bass				Crappie Bass	1	1.1%
Channel Catfish	28	37.60%		Channel Catfish	8	9.1%
Carp	2	2.50%		Carp	1	1.1%
Flathead Catfish				Flathead Catfish	2	2.3%
Fresh Water Drum	7	8.60%		Fresh Water Drum	4	4.5%
Gar	3	3.70%		Gar
Quillback	5	6.20%		Quillback
Rock Bass	8	9.90%		Rock Bass	5	5.5%
River Redhorse				River Redhorse
Smallmouth Bass	10	12.30%		Smallmouth Bass	19	21.6%
Shad	2	2.50%		Shad	9	10.2%
Sauger	3	3.70%		Sauger	15	17%
Skipjack				Skipjack
Shorthead Redhorse				Shorthead Redhorse	7	8%
White Bass				White Bass	7	8%
Walleye	1	1.20%		Walleye	9	10.2%
White Sucker				White Sucker
TOTAL	80			TOTAL	87

 

Fish Caught During Community Fishing Days

Freeport June 7, 2008				Upper Allegheny at Turtlepoint June 14, 2008
Type of Fish	Count	% of Total		Type of Fish	Count	% of Total
Alewife	5	4.7%		Alewife
Bluegill	1	.9%		Bluegill
Crappie Bass				Crappie Bass
Channel Catfish	18	17%		Channel Catfish	2	7.4%
Carp	6	5.7%		Carp	7	25.9%
Flathead Catfish	3	2.8%		Flathead Catfish
Fresh Water Drum	6	5.7%		Fresh Water Drum
Gar	3	2.8%		Gar
Quillback	11	10.4%		Quillback	4	14.8%
Rock Bass	4	3.8%		Rock Bass	1	3.7%
River Redhorse				River Redhorse	6	22.2%
Smallmouth Bass	14	13.2%		Smallmouth Bass	2	7.4%
Shad	13	12.3%		Shad
Sauger	11	10.4%		Sauger
Skipjack				Skipjack
Shorthead Redhorse	3	2.8%		Shorthead Redhorse
White Bass	5	4.7%		White Bass
Walleye	3	2.8%		Walleye	1	3.7
White Sucker				White Sucker	4	14.8%
TOTAL	104			TOTAL

Our Volunteers

ARSP Volunteer Demographics Characteristics # # Volunteers over 16 136 # Volunteers 16 & over & under 30 27 # Volunteers over 30 but under 50 27 # Volunteers 50 & over 60 Race -  Caucasian 127 -  African American 2 -  Hispanic 1 -  No Response 24 Gender -  Male 82 -  Female 82 -  No Response 13 Location by County -  Allegheny 74 -  Armstrong 43 -  Westmoreland 36 -  Indiana 3 -  Butler 1 -  Beaver 1 -  Mercer 1 -  Lawrence 1 -  Washington 1 # Volunteers agreeing to hair & nail samples 106 # Volunteers agreeing to participe in a focus group 77 # Volunteers agreeing to Community Study Activity 71 # Volunteers agreeing community meeting participation 66 # of Volunteers agreeing to fish for project sample 143 Total Volunteers 176	Allegheny River Stewardship Project (ARSP) Volunteers & Staff
ARSP Volunteer Residencies / Locations Location # Pittsburgh 37 Ford City 12 Apollo 11 Bethel Park 10 Freeport 9 Kittanning 9 Leechburg 8 New Kennsington 6 Lower Burrell 5 Natrona Heights 4 Tarentum 3 Elizabeth 3 Sewickely 3 North Apollo 2 Manor 2 Corapolis 2 New Florence 2 Vandergrift 2 Gibsonia 2 Oakmont 2 Export 2 Shelocta 2 Rural Valley 2 Breckenridge 2 East McKeesport 1 Cheswick 1 Irwin 1 Rural Ridge 1 Aliquippa 1 Swissvale 1 Grove City 1 Armagh 1 Upper St. Clair 1 Moon Township 1 Cannonsburg 1 Ellwood City 1 Sewickley Heights 1 Elderton 1 Arnold 1 Sarver 1 Adrian 1 Penn 1 Monongehela 1 Belle Vernon 1 Dayton 1 Emsworth 1 Verona 1 West Leechburgh 1 RD Creekside 1	ARSP Students Dissecting Fish

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Allegheny River Stewardship Project (ARSP) — Volunteer Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 3 - May 2008

Thanks to All Who Came Out & Supported the Project on Our First Community Fishing Day!

May 10, 2008, our first community fishing day at Rosston Eddy & Ford City, was a great success. We were greeted by eager anglers at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. We were ready because camp had been set up the day before. So we registered the waiting anglers as participants & they were catching fish as the rain was coming down. Needless to say, the rain did not dampen spirits. Dr. Volz & the graduate students began dissecting fish as they came in. Around 9:00 a.m. the rain stopped & the sun came out in full force, as well as people young & old to fish. There were a number of young people from various schools who took advantage of the RiverQuest vessel. Many also took advantage of the canoes, rods & reels furnished by Venture Outdoors.

ARSP Staff during Community Fishing Days 2008

May 31st Community Fishing Day - Cheswick / Springdale

We once again start our community fishing day at 6:00 a.m. on May 31st. We will again have a registration tent where participants can meet & register for prizes as well as obtain information on where ARSP is focusing our fishing efforts from moment to moment at this site. This site is split into two areas. Our main activity will be at the Rachel Carson Community Park in Cheswick. There is a large fishing pier, registration tent, dissection area, & porta-johns.

Directions to the Rachel Carson Community Park:

Take Rt 28 to the Springdale/Cheswick exit. Coming off the exit make left & go a short way to the first street on the right. This is Pillow Avenue. Make a right onto Pillow Avenue & proceed down this long hill. At the bottom is Freeport Rd. Make a left onto Freeport Road & proceed past the Cheswick Cinemas. Not far past this is a sign on the left for Allegheny Valley High School. Make a right onto this street which is right next to the Reliant Energy Plant. Proceed down to the river on this street. The park is located at the end of this street. On the other side of the Reliant Energy Plant & the adjoining PPG plant is the PA Fish & Boat Commission launch site. This is where boats can put in to fish the river. It is best to put the boat in at this area & then boat over to the fishing pier & tie up & check in at the registration tent.

Directions to Boat Launch:

Take Rt 28 to the Springdale/Cheswick exit. Coming off the exit make left & go a short way to the first street on the right. This is Pillow Avenue. Make a right onto Pillow Avenue & proceed down this long hill. At the bottom is Freeport Rd. Make a left onto Freeport Road & proceed past the Cheswick Cinemas & past the Reliant Energy Plant & PPG Plant. Turn right off Freeport Road onto Colfax Street & follow this down to the river. The PA Fish & Boat Commission launch ramp is on the left across from the PPG Plant.

RiverQuest will again be providing a vessel for four two hour fishing & education trips on the river. We are reserving these trips for students. No fishing license is required on this vessel for catch & release fishing only & rods & reels are provided if the student does not have their own. When the fishing tour with RiverQuest is completed students are invited to use canoes provided by Venture Outdoors & view the fish dissection process & ask questions. In order to take advantage of this opportunity please register your group with the time slot you will be using with the project manager Chuck Christen (chec@pitt.edu, 648-2342). The time schedule is listed below. Please arrive early, as we will be leaving the dock promptly at the departure time listed below.

• Trip 1 – Depart 8:00 AM - Return 10:00 AM
• Trip 2 – Depart 10:30 AM – Return 12:30 PM
• Trip 3 – Depart 1:00 PM – Return 3:00 PM
• Trip 4 – Depart 3:30 PM – Return 5:30 PM

Please be advised that food & drink must be supplied on your own. There are many food establishments & places to purchase bottled water in Cheswick & Springdale on Freeport Road.

Once again we ask that you not wear perfume, colognes, deodorant, sunscreen or bug repellant on this day. We are testing for substances that are contained in these products & could be picked up by the fish when being handled.

Call for Volunteers

Fish Retrieval

We are in need of volunteers to help with our fish retrieval when a fish is caught either on shore or on a boat! This is a very important part of the operation. Fish retrievers will use a GPS locator to identify the longitude & latitude of where the fish is caught so that we are able later on to create a map of the species & where it was caught on the river. Retrievers will also document date, time, & other important information on rain paper. After that, volunteers will sacrifice the fish according to our IRB Protocol (pithing), then wrap the fish in the rain paper document & aluminum foil. Finally, volunteers will store the fish for transport to the dissection area.

Staffing the Fishing Days

We are in need of volunteers to help with organizing & working the community fishing days, as well. We will need volunteers to help set up the site for fishing & dissection. We will need help directing anglers & with registration for prizes. We would like to invite food vendors to sell food at the events. We will need help with providing water from the river for the dissection area as well as replenishing drinking water, coffee & other beverage. We will need help with clean up also.

As always, thank you for your willingness to volunteer for this project!

ARSP Project Activities To-Date

Previous Activities

• April 2, 2008 – Paul Caruso & Chuck Christen presented the ARSP to the Manor Township Council. Manor Township is where Rosston Eddy is located & the site of our first community fishing day. The township council was very supportive & interested in the project.
• April 7, 2008 – Dr. Volz met with Jim Clark of the Penn State Cooperative Extension office, Sandy Thompson & Heather McKean of the McKean County Conservation District office. The purpose of this meeting was to view the fishing location for the last of the community fishing days, Saturday June 14, 2008. The site we have chosen is Turtlepoint, & is basically not a town but located between Port Allegany & Eldred off Route 155 (north or south depending on which direction you’re coming from) on the Allegheny River.
• April 7, 2008 – Dr. Volz presents on Emerging Contaminants at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. The audience was a diverse one primarily composed of academic & community people. The talk was well received by those in attendance. Many expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming fishing day on June 14th.
• April 7, 2008 – Chuck Christen & Paul Caruso presented the ARSP to the Ford City Council. This was especially important because the Council adjourned in October.
• April 9, 2008 – Paul Caruso presented the ARSP to the Pennsylvania Environmental Corps.
• April 14, 2008 – Dr. Volz & Chuck Christen taped a program on the ARSP at the studios of WYEP Community Broadcasting for the Allegheny Front. The program aired two weeks later.
• April 19, 2008 – Chuck Christen at the invitation of one of our volunteers presented to a camporee of about 50 Boy Scouts at Boyce Park Ski Lodge. The scouts & their leaders were interested in the project & many volunteered to participate in the project.
• April 19, 2008 – Paul Caruso presented the ARSP to the Mingo Rod & Gun Club in Mingo Township Fayette County. This was our second invitation to the club.
• April 28, 2008 – Chuck Christen presented the ARSP to the Lenape Vocational School at Ford City. About 40 students were in attendance.
• April 29, 2008 – Chuck Christen presented the ARSP to St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Verona as well as Verner Elementary School. The students were very interested.
• April 30, 2008 – Chuck Christen presented the ARSP to the R.A.I.N Steering Committee. This is a network of water quality experts for the purpose of early warning monitoring of water outflows. This begins another collaboration with the

Upcoming Events

• May 23 & 24, 2008 – The ARSP team will be on the river at Ford City Rosston Eddy taking water & sediment samples.
• May 31, 2008 – Community Fishing Day. Registration at the Rachel Carson Community Park at Cheswick. This park is located directly next to the Reliant Energy Plant. Already a local Boy Scout troop & students have reserved space on the RiverQuest vessel.
• June 7, 2008 – Community Fishing Day. Registration will be on River Avenue on the shore of the Allegheny River where Buffalo Creek enters the river.

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Allegheny River Stewardship Project (ARSP) — Volunteer Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 2 - April 2008

Update on Our Community Fishing Days!

Attention! There is a correction on the last newsletter. We apologize for the error in reporting our first community fishing day in June. The correct date is JUNE 7th & not June 1st. The community fishing days schedule is at the end of this newsletter.

Announcing...

RiverQuest is providing a great opportunity for students & young people at the first three of our community fishing days. River Quest will be providing their research vessel Scout for four two hour fishing & education trips on the river. We are reserving these trips for students. No fishing license is required on Scout & rods & reels are provided if the student does not have their own. After fishing on Scout students are invited to view the fish dissection process & ask questions. Teachers who bring groups of students may have access to some of the data collected when we have finished our data collection in June or July. Teachers may then demonstrate to students examples of basic descriptive statistics on the data. In order to take advantage of this opportunity you must register your day & time slot with the project manager Chuck Christen (chec@pitt.edu, 648-2342). The time schedule is listed below. Please arrive early, as we will be leaving the dock promptly at the departure time listed below.

• Trip 1 – Depart 8:00 AM - Return 10:00 AM
• Trip 2 – Depart 10:30 AM – Return 12:30 PM
• Trip 3 – Depart 1:00 PM – Return 3:00 PM
• Trip 4 – Depart 3:30 PM – Return 5:30 PM

Call for Volunteers

Fish Retrieval

We are in need of volunteers to help with our fish retrieval when a fish is caught either on shore or on a boat! This is a very important part of the operation. Fish retrievers will use a GPS locator to identify the longitude & latitude of where the fish is caught so that we are able later on to create a map of the species & where it was caught on the river. Retrievers will also document date, time, & other important information on rain paper. After that, volunteers will sacrifice the fish according to our IRB Protocol (pithing), then wrap the fish in the rain paper document & aluminum foil. Finally, volunteers will store the fish for transport to the dissection area.

Advertising the Project

We are in need of volunteers to help with identifying & distributing information & flyers on the project & the community fishing days. There are churches, Boy Scout & Girl Scout troops, bait shops, sporting shops, & sportsmen, fishing & environmental groups, that we do not know about or who have not been contacted about the project. We need your help to get the information to these folks. It is very important that we have a large number of people fishing on our community days. We are hoping to catch 100 fish for our sample at each location. There will still be abundant fishing for the season.

Staffing the Fishing Days

We are in need of volunteers to help with organizing & working the community fishing days, as well. We will need volunteers to help set up the site for fishing & dissection. We will need help directing anglers & with registration for prizes. We would like to invite food vendors to sell food at the events. We will need help with providing water from the river for the dissection area as well as replenishing drinking water, coffee & other beverage. We will need help with clean up also.

As always, thank you for your willingness to volunteer for this project!

ARSP Project Activities To-Date

Previous Activities

Our field coordinator, Paul Caruso, created biodegradable cork coasters with the project name, website & partner names on them. These are being distributed at all of the events we attend. Thank you, Paul!

• March 3, 2008 – Dr Volz presented the Allegheny River Stewardship Project (ARSP) to a full house at the meeting of Cafι Scientifique at Penn Brewery on the North Side of Pittsburgh. There was a good deal of discussion on the project & its importance. A good number of people signed up to volunteer & fish with the project.
• March 5 & 6, 2008 – The graduate students working on the project were warmly welcomed at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) offices on Washington’s Landing in Pittsburgh. They completed file reviews of various plants & water treatment facilities. These reviews included Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) & Permits. This information will be used to plan our water & sediment sampling expeditions. We are thankful to the DEP for their help & cooperation.
• March 6, 2008 – Chuck Christen & Paul Caruso presented the ARSP to the Westmoreland Conservation League of Sportsmen at the Court House in Greensburg. The project was well received & the sportsmen asked a good deal of questions as well as offering information on the river.
• March 10, 2008 – The staff & graduate students with the ARSP met all day with the scientists & researchers of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS is beginning a study of emerging contaminants on the rivers around Pittsburgh in July of this year. The ARSP is collaborating & sharing data with the USGS. This study will be a two year project studying fish, water & sediment in the Ohio, Monongahela & Allegheny rivers. This is very exciting for Pennsylvania & this area. The ARSP will also help with collecting samples in the later part of the summer.
• March 20, 2008 - Patty DeMarco & Chuck Christen presented information on Rachel Carson & the ARSP to the 8th grade science students at Ford City Middle School. Students had many questions & were the first young people to add data to the study by sharing their pollution narrative statements with us. This is a good example of how young people are aware of the environment around them. March 24th – Presentation of the ARSP at a special meeting of the Allegheny Township Environmental Council. Many thanks to Phyllis Framel, a volunteer with the project, who spearheaded the organization of the meeting. There was a good attendance & once again many questions & a good number of people signed up as volunteers for the project.
• March 28, 2008 – Rick Lorson, fish biologist with the PA Fish & Boat Commission held a fish otilith removal training session for the staff, graduate students & fish commission staff at the Somerset Lake office of the PA Fish & Boat Commission. This training will be very helpful for this project because we are now able to report the age of the fish we catch. The otilith is the inner ear of the fish & basically each year the otilith grows a new calcium ring. We can remove this structure & with a microscope count the rings & be able to tell the age of the fish. This is important because the older the fish, the more the fish has accumulated the substances in the water. We can compare older & younger fish now in terms of metals & estrogenic compounds.
• March 29, 2008 – Dr. Volz presented on "Identifying coal fired power plant pollutants through examination of local fish." Following this Eric Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project in Washington D.C. presented on "Cleaning up after Coal: What to do about Waste Coal & Coal Waste?" at the meeting of the Group Against Smog & Pollution (G.A.S.P.). at Rodef Shalom Synagogue in Oakland.

Upcoming Events

• April 2, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. – Presentation of ARSP to the Manor Township City Council
  
• April 7, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. – Meeting with Jim Clark, PSU Extension Cooperative to determine our final site at the head water of the Allegheny River.
  
• April 7, 2008 - 6:00 pm. – Dr. Volz speaks on Emerging Contaminants & the ARSP at the University of Pittsburgh Bradford Campus.
  
• April 7, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. – Presentation by Chuck Christen & Paul Caruso to the Ford City Council.
  
• April 9, 2008 - 10:00 a.m. Meeting with the Allegheny County Health Department Wet Weather Program
  
• April 16, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. – Dr. Devra Davis discussing her latest book, "The Secret
  History of the War on Cancer". At Pittsburgh Mills Royal Gatherings Banquet Hall next to Dingbats
  
• April 19, 2008 - 11:00 a.m. – Dr. Volz speaking at the Slipper Rock University Earth Day event at the McCloskey Center.
  
• April 19, 2008 - 3:00 pm – Chuck Christen & Paul Caruso presenting the ARSP to the Mingo Rod & Gun Club.
  
• April 29, 2008 – Presentation of the ARSP to the students of St Joseph School in Verona
  
• April 30, 2008 - 10:00 a.m. Chuck Christen will present the ARSP to the RAIN steering committee meeting. Ground Floor Conference Room of the Riverside Center for Innovation.

Community Fishing Days

Schedule of the days you can help provide fish samples for the Allegheny River Stewarship Project:

MAY 10, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	FORD CITY at Old PPG Glass Plant
MAY 31, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	SPRINGDALE/CHESWICK at Reliant Energy Plant Site
JUNE 7, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	FREEPORT at BUFFALO CREEK
JUNE 14, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	UPPER ALLEGHENY near Bradford

Come out to the river to catch some fish, have great fun, & support a great environmental project!!

Tell your family & friends & bring them with you. They can sign up online on our website. Venture Outdoors will be providing kayaks, canoes, rods & reels. There will be an opportunity to purchase a fishing license online at each site for those who don’t have one or forgot their license. Education on various aspects of our environment will be available.

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Allegheny River Stewardship Project (ARSP) — Volunteer Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 1 - March 2008

Community Fishing Days

Schedule of the days you can help provide fish samples for the Allegheny River Stewarship Project:

MAY 10, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	FORD CITY at Old PPG Glass Plant
MAY 31, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	SPRINGDALE/CHESWICK at Reliant Energy Plant Site
JUNE 7, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	FREEPORT at BUFFALO CREEK
JUNE 14, 2008 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM	UPPER ALLEGHENY near Bradford

Come out to the river to catch some fish, have great fun, & support a great environmental project!!

Tell your family & friends & bring them with you. They can sign up online on our website. Venture Outdoors will be providing kayaks, canoes, rods & reels. There will be an opportunity to purchase a fishing license online at each site for those who don’t have one or forgot their license. Education on various aspects of our environment will be available.

ARSP Project Activity To-Date

We have met with a number of environmental partners. Below is a summary of our recent meetings.

• January 15, 2008 - Crooked Creek Environmental Learning Center. We held a community meeting. It was a snowy cold evening, but we had over 38 interested people show up & many signed on as volunteers for the project. Dr. Volz spoke on the background, nature & mission of the project.
• January 16, 2008 – Meeting with the PA Fish & Boat Commission. Dr. Sue Thompson brought Dr. Volz & Chuck Christen to meet with officers, district chiefs & biologists at Pleasant Gap near Penn State University. This was a very interesting & collaborative meeting.
• January 24, 2008 –PA Department of Environmental Protection conference on Emerging Contaminants. Dr. Volz presented on Estrogens & Xenoestrogens as emerging contaminants in our rivers & water supply.
• January 31, 2008 – Undergraduate class at the University of Pittsburgh, the instructor Don Hopey, a collaborator with the ARSP, invited Dr. Volz to present on the Allegheny River Project & asks for student volunteers. Three students contacted us following the presentation.
• February, 2008 – Meeting with Cheswick Boro Secretary. Dr. Volz & Mr. Chuck Christen met with Andrew Bock of the Borough office of Cheswick. He was very interested in the ARSP & offered help.
• February, 2008 – Meet with PSU Extension Cooperative & Conservation District of McKeon County. This was a very important meeting. The key personnel we met with are very interested in the project & have offered to organize a community fishing derby. They have a strong interest in pharmaceutical disposal & water quality.
• February 7, 2008 – Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Seminar. Dr. Volz presented on the background, science, results & findings from the Three Rivers Fish Consumption project as well as informing the scientists present of the current ARSP.
• February 8 & 22, 2008 – Ford City Junior Senior High School. Mr. Chuck Christen, project manager, & Dr. Patricia DeMarco, executive director for Rachel Carson Homestead were scheduled to present to the biology classes but due to the weather & school closings this event has to be rescheduled. Dr. DeMarco has spoken to students at Bethel High School about the ARSP & recruited student volunteers.
• February 26, 2008 – Meeting with Armstrong County Sportsmen Conservation League. Mr. Paul Caruso, field coordinator for the ARSP, & Mr. Chuck Christen met with the various sportsmen & angler club representatives who belong to the Armstrong County Conservation League. The men were very interested & many requested we come to speak at their individual club meetings.
• February 27, 2008 - Water Quality Roundtable Meeting. Dr Volz & Mr. Chuck Christen presented the ARSP to members of the Water Quality Roundtable meeting at the site of the Three Rivers Rowing Association. There was a very positive response & collaborative spirit from the members.

Upcoming Events

• March 3, 2008 – Cafι Scientifique at Penn Brewery. Dr. Volz will be presenting on ARSP.
• March 5 & 6, 2008 – File Review at Department of Environmental Protection offices
• March 6, 2008 – 1:00 p.m. Presentation to RiverQuest at Discover Pavilion at the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, PA
• March 6, 2008 – 6:30 p.m. Presentation of ARSP to Westmoreland County Sportsmen League March 14th – Odilith Training for ARSP staff with PA Fish & Boat Commission
• March 24, 2008 – 7:00 p.m. Community Meeting at the Allegheny Township Community Center hosted by the Allegheny Township Environmental Council
• March 29, 2008 – 6:30 p.m. Presentation on the ARSP at Rodef Shalom Temple in Oakland. Sponsored by G.A.S.P.
• April 7, 2008 – Lecture by Dr. Volz at Univ. of Pittsburgh at Bradford on Emerging Contaminants

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