• Kulpmont Borough passed the nation's strongest mercury and dioxin law, using an ordinance we developed that requires real-time continuous emissions testing and reporting of mercury and dioxin emissions, and setting strict emissions standards. The ordinance also requires that any air-polluting industry (anything requiring a DEP air pollution permit) be at least 900 feet from a residential property.

2006:

• We stopped the most serious threat to Pennsylvania's drinking water in 16 years... a proposal to legally mandate the dumping of hazardous industrial waste products (primarily hydrofluosilisic acid) into the drinking water of five million more Pennsylvanians. This is done in the name of water fluoridation and about half of Pennsylvania's residents already drink this industrial waste. This legislation has been attempted for 20 years and came closer than ever to passing. Read more about water fluoridation in Pennsylvania.
• Through our Energy Justice Network project, we helped form the Meigs Community Action Network, a community group in southeastern Ohio organizing around coal issues. Their rural county is surrounded by the nation's worst concentration of existing and proposed coal power plants and numerous other coal industry developments, with 4 power plants within a 10 mile radius and 3-5 more proposed.
• On July 18th, West Reading Borough passed an ordinance we wrote, setting the nation's strictest mercury emissions standard, requiring that any crematorium or medical waste incinerator continuously monitor for mercury, report emissions data real-time to a website and ensuring that if a single mercury amalgam filling or mercury-containing medical waste is burned, the operator will be fined.
• We were the only ones to submit comments on the expansion of the Sun Oil refinery in southwest Philadelphia. In response, the refinery expansion will now be required to use continuous emissions monitors for particulate matter.
• It looks like we've stopped the nation's most urban proposal for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, which would have been located in Philadelphia. It was dealt a major blow by city council with the 12-2 passage of strongly worded anti-LNG resolution on Feb 16th. The talks between PGW and Hess have since fallen through and no new oil company has stepped up expressing interest.
• We filed the most extensive public comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for funding the proposed coal-to-oil refinery, planned for Schuylkill County, helping further delay the project's funding, which has ballooned from $612 million to $800 million during the time that they've been seeking the $100 million in federal funds that we've helped delay.
• We helped residents in Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties organize to oppose proposed new ethanol biorefineries. The proposal in Luzerne County quickly chose to relocate and we're keeping an eye out for them. We've providing support to numerous other communities, including those fighting waste coal power plants in PA, WV and VA, incinerators and tire-burning in NY (with a victory in NY), poultry waste incinerators in NC and much more.
• We took part in many conferences, speaking at the Heartwood Summit for the Mountains, the Life Beyond Cheap Oil Festival, the Pennsylvania Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Conference, the North Carolina Climate Challenge Summit, the Philly Beyond Oil 2006 conference (which we helped plan), the PA/OH/WV Environmental Gathering, the national Green Festival in DC, the Think Outside the Bomb conference in NYC, the South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance's Environmental Health Conference, multiple Energy Action Coalition meetings/trainings and the Ursinus Clean Energy Conference (which we also helped plan). We also did a lot of student organizing, visiting campuses in NJ, PA, WV, VA and NC.

2005:

• Conducted a series of organizational and strategy trainings for the Roxborough Green Space Project, contributing to their victory: blocking an attempt by the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education to sell open space to developers in northwest Philadelphia.
• Initiated the formation of Residents Against the Power Plant (RAPP), a grassroots community group in Washington County, PA that formed to stop a proposal for what would be one of the largest waste coal burning power plants in the world. Due to our research, outreach and advocacy on waste coal burning, two of the three proposals for large new waste coal burning power plants in Pennsylvania have their air permits being appealed, holding back the financing and development of those projects.
• Initiated the formation of Schuylkill Taxpayers Opposed to Pollution (STOP), a grassroots community group in Schuylkill County, PA formed to stop a proposal for the nation's first coal-to-oil refinery, which would produce so-called "ultra clean fuels." This is a continuation of work we've been doing around this proposed refinery since 1997.
• Initiated the formation of Concerned Citizens Fighting the Boggs Township Dump, a grassroots community group in Clearfield County, PA formed to stop a proposal for a large new landfill.
• Assisted in the formation of the Chester Environmental Partnership, a new group working to address the environmental racism issues in the City of Chester in Delaware County, PA. 2005 saw the closure of Clean Metal, a shoddily run facility that recycled metals out of the toxic ash produced by Covanta's giant trash incinerator in Chester. We had researched and opposed this since 2003.
• Leading the research efforts in a coalition to stop the nation's most urban proposal for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that would be located in Philadelphia, PA.
• Supported the Citizens for Safe and Responsible Industry in Corinth, NY in their fight against a second attempt at building the nation's largest trash incinerator in their village, as well as a proposed facility nearby to compost municipal solid waste and sewage sludge.
• Supported community groups opposing proposals for new landfills in Centre County, PA, Schuylkill County, PA.
• Educated various landfill communities about the hazardous nature of landfill gas, including new research on mercury in landfill gas. This information helped communities groups such as the South DeKalb Neighborhoods Coalition in Georgia, where the largely African-American community is surrounded by 8 landfills.
• Began developing a network of community groups fighting ethanol biorefineries, including groups from Oregon to Pennsylvania.
• Began developing a network of community groups in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and First Nations fighting the use of tire-derived fuel (scrap tire incineration). 2005 saw victories against tire incineration in Preston, MN and Newfoundland, Canada.
• Continued development of a network of community groups opposing "biomass" incineration of various sorts. Assisted residents opposing wood waste burners in Arizona, Ohio, Maine and multiple communities in Minnesota and New Hampshire. Assisted groups in Australia, UK, and Scotland in fights against poultry waste incinerators. 2005 saw a victories against a wood waste incinerator in Hinsdale, NH and against a poultry waste incinerator in the Netherlands.
• Organized media outreach and helped with conference planning for BioDemocracy 2005, a counter conference and march against the Biotechnology Industry Organization's national convention in Philadelphia.
• Participated in the Week of Action against Wal-Mart, events exposing the toxic nature of mercury fillings, various regional and national waste and energy activist conferences, and numerous anti-war events.
• Traveled to Mexico to present information on the hazards of burning tires and hazardous waste in cement kilns. Starting to strengthen national and global networks among those opposing cement kiln pollution.
• Taught workshops at the Northeastern Climate Conference (Vermont), the True Cost of Coal Conference (Pittsburgh, PA), BioDemocracy 2005, the Philadelphia Beyond Oil Conference, PA Renewable Energy Festival (Berks County, PA) and the Virginia Environmental Forum.