NORTHAMPTON — The city’s new Connecticut River Greenway Park will be officially opened with a ceremony from 4 to 5 p.m. Friday.
The park at 80 Damon Road was established after the city acquired 11 acres from Lane Construction behind River Run Apartments.
The park was funded with a state grant, matching funds from the Community Preservation Commission and donations from friends of Northampton Community Rowing.
It includes parking and an accessible boat ramp and gangway. Intended for non-motorized craft, the park is used by Northampton Community Rowing for recreational and competitive youth and adult rowing programs.
That organization makes kayak dollies and storage and dock facilities available to the general public.
The park also is a place to view birds and other wildlife and to explore the city’s industrial history because it includes the remains of the Northampton-New Haven canal’s original river harbor.
The celebration will include tours, a demonstration of dragon-baoting, the launching of new 60-foot rowing shell, and light refreshments.
Mayor David Narkewicz, state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and state Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, are expected to attend.
Further information is available online at www.hampcrew. com.
KEENE, N.H. — Things are heating up at Keene State College, which is now using 100 percent used cooking oil to keep more than a third of its campus warm.
Officials say the college’s decision to replace their polluting heating fuel oil with purified waste vegetable oil both supports a local business and improves the air quality around campus.
Cary Gaunt, the director of campus sustainability, said he was told by industry leaders that Keene State is the only college in the country using purified waste vegetable oil to heat a campus. The school has about 5,500 students.
“Sustainability is a core value at Keene State College,” he said. “We are taking bold steps to demonstrate our values by significantly reducing our greenhouse gas footprint and improving the well-being of the people on our campus and the surrounding community.”
The college uses the new carbon-neutral fuel for heat and hot water, and intends to increase its use of the alternative fuel in the coming years.
Officials say the cost is comparable to the old oil once renewable energy incentives are factored in.
— Associated Press
The following are recent state Department of Environmental Protection consent orders and penalty assessments in western Massachusetts.
• CONSENT ORDER FOR WATER SUPPLY VIOLATIONS, Aug. 23, Leverett: Entered into a consent order with a $946 penalty involving the Village Cooperative Corp. for water supply violations in Leverett. Village Cooperative Corp. failed to demonstrate adequate certified operator oversight and failed to comply with sanitary survey requirements at Village Coop public water system in Leverett. Under the terms of today’s order, the corporation is required to submit monthly operator inspection reports to be submitted for each of the coming 12 months and payment of the penalty.
• UNILATERAL ORDER, Aug. 23, Plainfield: Issued a unilateral order to Earthdance Creative Living Project Inc., in Plainfield, which had submitted notification of a drinking water emergency due to power loss of the ultraviolet light disinfection system and use of a bypass to have water for non-potable uses. The order requires notice to customers to boil water or use bottled water for human consumption, notice to local officials, implementation of its emergency plan and continued monitoring as required by MassDEP.