HARRISBURG – Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr. (R-35) proudly announced that West Branch Area School District in Clearfield County has been selected to receive a Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
The awardees were recently recognized at an event hosted by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council at the Hilton in downtown Harrisburg.
In the school district’s project, entitled “Modeling Biomass Excellence,” school leaders shifted their central boiler plant to locally grown, sustainably harvested woody biomass to reduce oil consumption by 75 percent, or about 57,000 gallons annually.
It is estimated that the carbon dioxide emission will be reduced by about 949,057 pounds/year.
“It is leadership such as this at the local level that will ultimately protect our air and water in the future,” Langerholc said. “In the wake of Earth Day and the March for Science, I am very proud to know that Clearfield County is leading the way in energy-efficiency and earth-friendly policies and practices.”