Brian Oram was born and raised in the Wyoming Valley and is now a licensed geologist, sewage enforcement officer, and professional soil scientist. Despite his passion and acumen for the environment, he had never heard of the Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation and Development Council. When he finally did a few years ago, he was surprised.
I went to a meeting and find out theres a group of citizen volunteers that have spent all their time to get grant money for other people to get all these cool things, says Oram, who made it his job to help the group publicize and increase its efforts as its chairperson. That mission led to the creation of the first Northeast PA Energy Solutions Expo, held last year at the Luzerne County Fairgrounds in Dallas.
Oram sponsored the inaugural expo through his company, B.F. Environmental, in memory of his late father William, a veteran and outdoorsman who was active in grassroots community efforts. The event attracted about 600 visitors, and Oram is already excited about this years expo, which is planned for June 26-27 and will include additional PR help and an expanded program with more hands-on displays, education and training.
The council chapter has roots dating to 1973. The council covers a 10-county region and provides a variety of services, including watershed management, reclamation of abandoned mine land, forest management, land conservation and educational programs. One of its bigger projects was debuted at last years expo, a $135,000 mobile pelletizer used to process biomass into fuel for heat at the Benton Area School District.
At this years expo, the pelletizer is going to be up and running and even better, says Oram, who also works the director for the Center for Environmental Quality at Wilkes University. Im told weve got one wind energy vendor who will bring a residential turbine. Things will be much better this year.
Source: Brian Oram, Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation and Development Council
Writer: Joe Petrucci