Environment

A group of 35 volunteers from Catalent Pharma Solutions, Somerset, helped beautify a part of Colonial Park recently. The employees on July 23 spent the day spreading mulch along the Lois Howe Nature Trail and the Powder Mill Pond. The work was done in conjunction with Park Rangers and the Somerset County Park Commission’s horticultural staff.

A “garden party” was held July 19 in the perennial garden at Colonial Park. Hosted by the Somerset County Park Commission’s Horticultural Department, the “party” featured music, speakers and plant-related items for sale. Bruce Crawford, director of Rutgers Gardens, spoke about summer shrubbery; Stephen Kristoph, an adjunct professor at Rutgers University and proprietor of Kristoph Nursery, spoke about garden perennials and …

Four of the six trails at the Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve should be opened to bicyclists, a township advisory committee decided July 9. The Trails Advisory Committee voted 4-2 to recommend to the Open Space Advisory Committee that it vote to allow bicycling on the orange, yellow, brown and purple trails, located off Canal Road. Those trails total about four …

The township Trail Advisory Committee held its second observance of National Trails Day June 6 at the Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve off Canal Road. According to Fran Varacalli, the township’s land preservation and management consultant, the day included “tips from a local photographer, David Hartz,  on how to photograph natural landscapes; geo caching volunteer, Vince Caporossi,  was on hand to …

A new state anti-dumping program barely two months old has already yielded charges against several alleged illegal dumpers, including two township men. The effort, called, “Don’t Waste Our Open Space,” was launched in March and is a joint operation among several DEP agencies including Parks, Fish & Wildlife, Compliance & Enforcement, Solid Waste, Water Resources, State Park Police, State Conservation Police, …

The after-effects of the April 30 rain storm will probably continue to be felt through the evening rush hour, township officials say. As of noon May 1, this was the message on the township Web site: As we enter the lunchtime hour and prepare for the afternoon commute, numerous roadways continue to be flooded. Motorists should expect delays for the …

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for from 10 a.m. April 30 through noon on May 1. Rainfall of between 2 and 4 inches is forecast for the area, which could result in pockets of small stream and river flooding. A flood watch means there is a potential for flooding based on forecasts.

Building and installing rain barrels is the focus of a workshop set for 9 a.m. to noon on May 3 at the Franklin Township Municipal Building, 475 DeMott Lane. The workshop is sponsored by the Franklin Township Environmental Commission and the New Jersey Water Supply Authority. Rain barrels collect and store rainwater collected from a roof, which can then be …

Spooky Brook Golf Course in Colonial Park was one of two Somerset County courses named a “2014 Groundwater Guardian Green Site” by the Groundwater Foundation. The award honors the facility’s groundwater and environmental stewardship, according to a press release on the award. Quail Brook Golf Course, off New Brunswick Road, has previously been given the award. Also honored this year …

Electronic waste can be dropped off 7 a.m. to noon April 22 at WCTC, 78 Veronica Ave. in Somerset. “Somerset County employees look forward to meeting residents and sharing literature with them,” Somerset County Freeholder Patricia Walsh, teh Freeholders’ solid waste management/recycling liaison, said in a release. Old computers, televisions, servers, monitors, printers, fax machines, copiers, telephones, keyboards and other …