Latest / Clean Water Conversations / Episode 6 with Adam Ortiz

Transcript

Episode 6 with Adam Ortiz · Clean Water Conversations

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_03: Hello everyone and welcome to Clean Water Conversations, the podcast where we have casual discussions about creating clean and clear waterways right here in Lancaster County.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Ken.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Allison.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: Allison, it feels like forever since we recorded.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Feels like a long time ago.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it does.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: However.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, the for the for the people out there listening, it's only been like two weeks.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: But the that podcast that we recorded, the what the one with uh Steve Campbell, what we actually recorded like a month ago.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: We were so ahead.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we were.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: But so just to have a little bit of inside baseball, inside podcast, inside podball.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: Podball.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: Got it.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we're gonna go with.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: What you see in the finished product is not necessarily what goes on behind the scenes.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: We record things out of order and and uh yeah, there's a lot of editing that goes on.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: And we make it pretty in the end.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: We certainly try anyway.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: So hey, the weather is getting warmer.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So nice to have spring.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: It is lovely.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: So I was just curious, what is your favorite thing about spring?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: I love the colors and I love to be able to go fishing.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: My kids tried to go.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll say they went cat fishing this weekend, not catching, but yes, it's always good to have that as a way to get outside.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: How about you?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: I love the smell of things.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like in the winter, we you know, there's not a whole lot of smell.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we're in Lancaster County, so take that with a grain of salt.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: But um once spring comes, there's so many smells in the air.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's just it's lovely.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Very true.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Things come to life.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: So hey, you know what?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: You folks, you can uh contribute to this podcast.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna ask you the same question.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: What do you love most about spring?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Hit us up at info at Lancaster Clean Water Partners.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: That was the third time I had to say that.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: I edited the other two out, just so you know.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: In in in complete transparency, hit us up at infotlancastercleanwaterpartners.com.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: Let us know what your favorite thing about spring is.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: We will pick a random email and you'll get a prize.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: Prizes?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: Prizes are good, right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there we go.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: So this is episode six.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: And it's coming up.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: Special one.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: Episode probably seven is going to, we're going to talk about water week.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Big thing.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: Annual tradition.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, so wonderful because there's a lot of prep that goes into it, but what a celebration of so many things in Lancaster.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: There's over 60 events that are scheduled.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Jeez, Louise.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: All kinds of ways to get involved.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, and uh, all kinds of activity, and oh, that's gonna be a lot of fun.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: So Water Week itself is June 7th through the 15th.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: So stick around for the next podcast, probably.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we'll be talking about Water Week.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: This podcast, we're talking with Adam Ortiz.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: With the EPA, also known as the Environmental Protection Agency.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: There it's done.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: It's done.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: So we get we're we could say EPA for the rest of the podcast.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: For the rest of the podcast.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: You can't buzz me.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: I can buzz you if I want to buzz you.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not going to, but uh, Adam is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator for the EPA, where he oversees.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: Now, check this out the environmental and public health protections in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and seven federally recognized tribes.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: We all think we have big plates that are full, but I'm pretty sure his is extra large.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And yet he came in to talk to us.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so, so excited.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Let's hit it.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Do it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Adam, welcome to Clean Water Conversations.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so glad that you could be here with us.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: This is awesome.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm uh I was uh excited and honored to get the invitation, but you're doing so many good things here.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm uh uh uh uh such a proponent of clean water as everybody is.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's been on the books for a long time, but it's um but people are really figuring things out here.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for having me on.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking forward to the conversation.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Powell Well, we always start off with an icebreaker, and uh and your question is what is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um well, do I have to necessarily have followed this great advice or is that just just given.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now this uh I I do try to follow this advice, and this comes from a mentor of mine when I was in my twenties.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I worked for an NGO dealing.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we were taking on tough stuff like that.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, even NGO?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, NGO.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Any acronyms at all, yeah.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Non-governmental organizations.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry about that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, we're uh it was I I I had it coming, you know, and I've learned and um NGO.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: USA.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to find the boundary of what's, you know, common AARP.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's like its own word now, but okay.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: No, I would buzz AARP, actually.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: KFC.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: All right, we're gonna get back on track.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's actually the name of the company now.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Is that right?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right, exactly.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: So okay.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: All right, we're digressing a little bit.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna bring us back on track.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get us back on track.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: Focus, people, focus.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh uh I was working for a non-governmental organization uh working on criminal justice issues and juvenile justice issues, like really tough stuff.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: And um uh and uh my my mentor and boss, uh her name was Patty, um said, you know, just do the work and don't be concerned about the credit.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And um in non-governmental world, uh, you know, there's a lot of competition for grants and keeping funders happy and doing all this kind of stuff.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean in every every sector, every life, people want to toot their horn and and get credit for that.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: But she said, never worry about the credit.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: The work will speak for itself as it does it all.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: And for me, that was important because A, it's true.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then B, all of this work that we do, it's not about us.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's not about me, it's not about Ken, it's not about Allison, it's about something bigger.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, if that's the last thought in your mind, you know, getting credit for something, then your priorities are right.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I do believe that, you know, if you do good work, uh it speaks for itself and it brings people in.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so that I've never forgotten that tremendous mentor and tremendous advice.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's perfect for here in Lancaster and for the way that the collaborative approach is working and really appreciate how you have continued that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that advice rings true.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: It does ring true.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: And and the thing is, you know, uh uh in environmental work, it's so huge, right?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: How big is the environment?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's big.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Just about everything.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's just about everything.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Arguably it is everything.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it it's everything in the world.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the and the challenges that we have are decades and in some cases centuries in the making.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: And we're only gonna stand a chance at turning things around if we bring as many people in as possible across sectors, um, you know, across industries, across racial and class groups, um, because we need all the help we can get.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um so collaboration is the only way we're gonna succeed, and it's the only way it's gonna work.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And if folks are about me, me, me or my organization or uh what have you, then it it's gonna it it takes our eyes off the prize and it keeps people away.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So the more people we can draw in.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why, again, uh where I started, I'm excited to be here because I think y'all are doing it right here in Lancaster.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: What are some of the things that you think collaboration require?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: Well, good question.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, always start with listening.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Showing up and listening.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm big on um on all of us, uh you know, especially tougher audiences, you know, going to other people's turf, you know, walking the you know, walking the walk, like literally.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've been out on farms, you know, out here, yeah, uh the three of us and and and have done a lot of things and and listening to the the po the affected folks.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: And all of us want to help, right?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: But we're gonna help when we listen better and learn better and and you know learn what skin each of us have in the game.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really big on that.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and people rightfully talk about inclusion a lot.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have to include.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Of course we have to do, but but there's a little bit in that frame like, oh, we need to include people in my table.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: So here, come to my table.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: But that's the wrong way to look at it.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think we need to go to other people's table, you know, and and on their turf and experience um, you know, life and things from their perspective, because that's that's the way that we're gonna make progress and bring people in.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Tell me a little bit about your background.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: How did you get into conservation and like where did you grow up?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: That would that that did that play an effect in your interest in conservation?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh a big part.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York State.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful part of the country.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: Actually reminds me a lot.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um being here reminds me a lot.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Rolling Hills, lots of small farms, lots of small dairy farms um in an environment that's really stunning and inspiring.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: And many of my earliest memories were being at the park with my mom at a local lake or or some beautiful place.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I was born in Mount Vernon outside of the Bronx.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh we moved upstate a little bit farther um north in the Hudson Valley, and our house backed up to must have been about 2,000 acres of woods.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: So just as a kid with my dogs, we'd go get lost in the woods, look for salamanders, and make trails and do do all that really cool stuff.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: So it was near and dear to my heart, you know, fishing and a Boy Scout and all that stuff.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, as a Boy Scout, you learn to, you know, leave things better than you found them.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that everybody has some responsibility, you know, in uh our civic life, in our environmental life.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: And that that you know that made a lot of sense to me.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so yeah, early values uh that were encouraged um by a very beautiful part of our country.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we're in one now.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, being here many times, people are really excited about Lancaster and the Conestoga because they're beautiful places that that deserve to be fought for.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Some of your background includes time uh as a leader in Prince George's County, Maryland.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Can you share with us some of the lessons that you experienced there, some of the ways that working in different types of environment, the built environment and where it meets the natural environment?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know that that was a big part of your work in in Prince George's County.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Can you share some of that with us?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Powell Yeah, thank you for asking.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so you know, as a kid, I had this conservation and outdoorsy ethic.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Then in my career, um, I was a sort of a policy advocacy person uh working for NGOs and really wasn't focused on the environment professionally.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then um uh at age 29, I was elected town uh mayor of my town, tiny little town outside of Washington, D.C., in Prince George's County, um, which is uh on the east side of the city, which is uh and especially that part of the region, very working class, you know, not the Georgetown set, you know, but you know, like literally the the other side of the of the beltway, uh working class community.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, part of my platform was to make uh the community, even though it's a working-class um community, it can have a first-class quality of life, and that included um environmental protection and a healthy environment.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but in my first month on the job, we uh experienced uh a severe storm event.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um it wasn't a hurricane, but you know, the these acute storms and uh received almost seven inches of water in about an hour, and the town flooded.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and we're on the Anacostia River, uh, which is a smaller river, uh about the same size as Conestoga in a lot of ways, a lot of similarities.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, interestingly, the the town did not flood from the river overflowing.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: The town flooded from stormwater runoff from adjoining communities.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: So um so there was a few things that had to grapple with right away.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: So emergency response, making sure people were safe, um, getting people out, some of them by boat, um, you know, working with the fire department and the law enforcement agencies and emergency response, that immediate stuff, then getting the water out of people's homes and having an acute awareness of mold and uh uh and just you know a healthy life under a roof, um, but then rebuilding, you know, all this stuff, all the devastation from uh emergency response.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but then you know, stepping back from that immediately was like, why did this happen?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, why did this happen and how do we keep it from happening again?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um so this was 2005, um, you know, before climate adaptation and resilience was part of our lexicon.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we we did all that stuff.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: We um raised levies, we had uh a lot of gray infrastructure to just to control flooding, um, a pump station, a sophisticated pumping station.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we also said, like, hey, you know, we want to make sure that we're responsible for our environmental footprint here in the town.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: So we also launched uh an effort to uh make the town as green as possible.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: So on our main street, we redesigned it uh to capture uh 90 percent of the stormwater on the street.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was about three-quarters of a mile, so that was a lot, uh a lot of bioretention, a lot of tree canopy, and also making it multimodal so the public can participate in the street.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't just for cars, uh, in a beautiful place that connected bike paths and uh our natural assets in the river.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: So um so through that exercise and overall, you know, dollar for dollar, it was probably a$12 or$13 million series of projects, which are a lot for a tiny little town of uh 1,400 people.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um but you know, I always said that, hey, if the small working-class town can solve a lot of these problems, anybody can.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um through that work, I actually met the then uh mayor of Lancaster.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: This is way back when, uh storied mayor uh and a bunch of other environmental leaders that were doing this stuff at the same time.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um but back to your point earlier, Allison, you know, we couldn't have done anything without collaboration.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we partnered with nongovernmental organizations, also known as NGOs, for people who could write that down earlier.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um we worked with the University of Maryland, uh, we worked with landscape architects, we worked with activists, we worked with um, you know, lots of residents, dozens of residents who participated in our planning, and um, we created um a series uh just a quality of life that was very sustainable and beautiful.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: And um and I was you know just on the in the town uh uh a few days ago and on the main street, and you know, people are out and it's beautiful, and the trees have grown a lot.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: So there's this tremendous canopy, and um and it's springtime in Maryland, a little more than it is uh here.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: So the the pollinators were out, it was just just a great sight, and just shows that people sticking together can do great things.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell Now that flood, uh how far into your term was that?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that was my second month, or actually first month.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was a crash course, and incidentally, um that was one of four floods that we had in four consecutive years.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: And the flood models was that we that we had the equivalent of a 100-year storm four years in a row.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I wasn't a math major, but I know that that's not good.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: But this was around the time of Katrina, where it was like, hold on, something's different here.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Things are a little bit getting more serious, things and now it's becoming more commonplace.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: But it was sort of the beginning of this sort of climate era.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I consider us part of this climate generation that are like, whoa, stuff is changing.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: We have to do something about it, we have to be thoughtful.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was a wake-up call for sure.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Those kind of things impact the daily lifestyle of the resident that assumes the water coming out of their tap is clean and you can trust it, assuming that the river is there and you can access it.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I think of to your point, all the different kinds of partners that have to be in that type of solution generating system.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: We got a call from somebody the other day, Ken, that he is a for-profit company who helps people, like you said, clean out their basements or pump out their basements.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he could not find the right partner to connect to, like connect to the city public works or whatever the service was that his customer needed.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it was just a like prime reminder for me, and it connected with your story there about how those types of resident-driven needs are part of this solution too.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, real stuff, real quality of life.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and and that's and and I I've loved having that background um because it's real stuff.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's like how do policies, how does funding from the federal level, you know, that that's where I'm working now, um, impact people in a meaningful way on the ground.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like we can't afford to have things lost in translation.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that's why I come here a lot and lots of other places uh throughout the Commonwealth, because you know, I want to see and hear what's what works and how it can matter to people's everyday lives.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: As you've made that transition from local and county-based and a mayor type position to the regional administrator role, what are some of the biggest environmental impacts that you've seen?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: One of the concepts that's most important to me uh as a management philosophy is alignment.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: So we have these historic resources, um literally billions of dollars that that uh we're we're putting towards infrastructure of all kinds, energy infrastructure, water infrastructure, um you know, controls on uh on air pollution, cleaning up superfund sites, brownfield sites, all that stuff.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um so although we have these funds, though, it's not just enough to get the money out the door.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's to get it to places that can do the most with it, to the people whose lives are going to be impacted the most.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: So so you know, being out, we're able to see like and and I see this everywhere, there there's no communities that are disempowered.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there might be communities that have been marginalized historically, but in every place we go, it doesn't matter what the income level is, people are passionate, people are fighting for their communities, they have ideas, they have wisdom, they have energy around stuff, and they're like, hey, we're doing all this stuff, but hey, where have you been?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what are you gonna bring to the table and how are you gonna help us out?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: So uh so what I'm finding is that um there's a lot of good stuff, a lot of momentum happening everywhere, you know, in in all corners of the Commonwealth and all parts of the region, and they're looking for a boost.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: So um so we can bring something to the table, we can help, but we're not the only ones involved, um, but we certainly have a role to play.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I see it in all sorts of forms around here, as you know, uh making a difference on a lots of farms, you know, family farms, working with uh nonprofit organizations, working with conservation folks, um, working with agricultural leaders, working with the Farm Bureau, uh, and you know, we were on a farm.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think it was like I might have been in York, York County, where the farmer was like, you know, now my kids can play in the stream.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because you know, the manure isn't washing off into it.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, look like little things like that.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a microexample.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but also we were in Erie a few months ago.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: And in Erie, um, you know, we're we're cleaning up the Erie Coke um site, which is this massive, I want to say it's like 2,000 acres.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's this huge, huge swath of sacrificed land.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's not productive anymore, it's a brown field.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but not only is this this huge um area adjacent to downtown, but it is blocking this working class community in these neighborhoods from getting to Lake Erie.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like this incredible asset.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Lake Erie.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's basic it could be like the ocean, you know, it could be beachfront, it could be like this incredible asset, and people are blocked off.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: But they're but you know, people there are organizing and working to revitalize, you know, that that that part of their community, and we're there to help to help clean it up.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: So Alison, just see it in so many ways, hundreds, thousands of ways in the trips and conversations that we have of ways people are working together across sectors and among different levels of government to transform their everyday lives.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Really good examples.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: So in all the responsibilities you have and and certainly the the importance of it in in uh protecting the environment.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um What keeps you optimistic and what keeps you up at night?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: All those things happen.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm both optimistic and restless and stressed, um, you know, in cycles through every single day and every single week.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um what's optimistic is uh is people.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh you know, we sometimes we we bemoan our ability to make decisions and work together in this democratic society um in our republic.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um but showing up places, people really care.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: People want to work together, people want to figure things out.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: Most people are very well intentioned.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that keeps me very optimistic.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um sort of the the the sophistication of our society um and technology and using science uh and um and bringing you know centuries of wisdom to bear on some of the toughest problems that we Have keeps me optimistic too.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: We're smarter than we've ever been in many ways.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: Some could argue we're not smart, not as smart as we should be in other ways.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: But overall, like there's a lot of tools in our toolbox to figure things out.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: So all of that keeps me optimistic.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: What stresses me out is time.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just hear that clock ticking constantly.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Are we deploying things fast enough?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: Are we bringing the right partners to the table?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: Cynicism, like people who believe things can't be done, that that government doesn't work.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it works if we choose to make it work.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: It works if we choose to collaborate.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: It works if we choose to lean in and find common ground.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: And we may not agree on every solution, but we could agree that maybe the status quo isn't acceptable and go from there.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: So so um so that keeps me up because um it's a big task and we need all hands on deck.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: And not everybody has to row strongly, but we have to at least be rowing in the same direction if we're gonna move our craft.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um but overall uh it's it's an exciting time.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: The there's the sheer scale of the investment um coming from the federal government and from states.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um states are stepping up too, uh.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: Especially here in the in the in the Chesapeake watershed.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um people are stepping up and the public is expecting it.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's something people expect, you know, that that we're living in a more thoughtful and sustainable way in relationship to our environment.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take that one a little bit towards Pennsylvania.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: I know that EPA has 2025 as a goal for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, that shows up in different ways in each each state.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: But in Lancaster, we're using that as a one of our goals, but we're also using 2040 for our common shared vision of clean and clear by 2040.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: That aligns with things like our county comprehensive plan.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: I also recently learned it aligns with the city's consent decree.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so being able to use those to drive the action in a way that uh acknowledges all the work that's been done, but also keeps us pushing together and towards, like you said, rowing it in the same direction.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious how does How do you think EPA um is perceiving that?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is work I know there's so many ways that you're working with Pennsylvania to do that.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: How has some of that um changed, but also you're using it as a way to bring people together?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess I'm I'm curious both from the the public expectation, but also the implications and the implementation of that too, using those goals.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's uh it's a rallying point and it's a focal point uh for a lot of us.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, as you mentioned, there's a lot of good things happening.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and it doesn't have to be perfectly on the same time frame, but are we moving in the right direction?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: And we were talking about farming a little bit earlier, but the city of Lancaster has been a tremendous leader in just driving around, seeing the amount of bioretention and you know, permeable um pavers and stuff like that, tree canopy and what's being done in the parks and the regener regenerative um stuff.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, wow, this is like really thoughtful.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um so so people are are are are making a lot of progress.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um but what's what's up with deadlines is like sometimes we don't meet them.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: But um uh, you know, and in the in the Chesapeake uh case of the Chesapeake Bay, there's 31 outcomes.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: We've met 18 of them.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not, you know, we have to be also be thoughtful about not to stereotype or be monolithic uh in our thinking.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um there's some things we're doing really well in, you know, 18 outcomes.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh 11 of them are not on track, and that's where we need to focus.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: But the the good thing is that we've been at it for a while.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: So remember the Chesapeake uh Bay Partnership and the agreement is uh 41 years old uh this year, um, but it was jurisdictions coming together to go above and beyond the Clean Water Act.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the Clean Water Act is the law.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's you know what we're doing.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um but the states were like, hey, you know, we need a little, we need to we need to level up, folks.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we need to come together and step up our game.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So they're they were doing something that hadn't been done before.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: There's there's no estuary uh or water body in this country that's seen the amount of um dedication and focus uh as the one that we're in now.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um and some things went as planned and some things did not go as planned, and that's fine as long as we learn from it.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um but what are we learning?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: We're learning that we need to work more closely with um producers and with farmers.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the things that you're doing right here in Lancaster.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they need to be at the table.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: We need to work closely with them.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we know that stormwater is a big deal uh as well, and we need uh to find cost-effective ways to uh to deploy best management practices, also known, Ken, as BMPs.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_05: Um lesser.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, oh I I like the term conservation measures.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: They're conservation measures that we have in urban places or uh conservation measures that we use in urban places.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: And we need to scale it up.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I think the thing we have to grapple with and figure out is how do we do more of this faster?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um we have to bring the costs down, we have to um bring the amount of participants up, and then we have to be strategic.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, a lot of it has been voluntary, like, hey, what farmer out there wants to do conservation?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then some hands go up and that's great, and we'll support those farmers, but maybe there's you know other parcels that are like immediately adjacent to a tributary that that need controls and and leaning in.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: So the conservation districts are important and others.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a level of uh of uh of strategy uh and sort of surgical implementation that we have to do in addition to just getting you know projects out the door.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think those are great points and we've seen some of those changes happening already.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think we've also been challenged to change the process, whether that's a permitting process, whether that's a way that a partner organization does outreach so that we're not um conflicting with each other, we're not stepping on each other's toes.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: We always say there's like you you said, there's so much happening.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta make sure that we all know what's happening and that we use that in order to move move faster, further, farther, faster.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: That one.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: Is it farther or further?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: I get it.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: We'll have to look it up.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we will circle back on that one.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I gotta I take I have to tell you that I now I can only say this on the perspective of Lancaster County Conservation District, because they're the only ones I went to a farm with.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: But the folks that talk the farmers there, it is fascinating to watch.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_03: They are just on the same page with the farmer and just talk in the same language.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: And it's and that relationship piece is so important and they do it so well.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: So kudos to them.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they do a tremendous job.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: They speak the language.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: Many of them are farmers or have been farmers or farming in their family.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: So they speak a language that, you know, I want to speak, you know, but um uh but may not.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it's like everybody has a role.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, one um one thing people don't always know in the category of not taking credit for things uh necessarily is we fund more than 80 conservation uh position conservation district positions in the Commonwealth, because they are going to deliver those messages better than, you know, I think I'm I do my best to deliver messages.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: People listening to the podcast can decide if that's true or not.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: But um but those those conservation uh guys and gals are going to do it better than I can.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: So if we can um you know help help the district staff up and help them get out there talking to farmers, you know, we want them to do that because they do it so well.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not always smooth sailing with some of those relationships.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are some of the things that you can share with us about how you have turned potentially contentious relationships into a positive?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: What are it could be at the producer level, could be at an agency table that people don't see eye to eye across that table.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: There's um I'm like, wow, how many tough conversations can I share in the remaining podcast?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um so to to go back to something you discussed earlier, like showing up is so important.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: And um, my first meeting in this if my first in-person meeting in this job was actually with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: And uh at the time, EPA was being sued by so many states by you.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe you did.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Did you sue them?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: No, not us.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, not you.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: Not personally.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: It was definitely not Allison.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Not that time.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: But lots of uh nonprofit organizations did as well because they didn't feel like we were doing enough.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh and then as a Marylander, you know, Marylanders, they're they're Maryland's top issue on the Chesapeake Bay is Pennsylvania.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: They talk about Pennsylvania more than they talk about Maryland.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_02: So um so you know, I went up there and I was like, hey guys, I'm under all this pressure.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: I got this lawsuit.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, Pennsylvania um has not been accelerating the work the way that other states have.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what's you know, how can we work together?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: And the response I got was like, thank you.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: We agree with everything you say, we want to work together.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then we you know work together on cost share programs and funding and other stuff that has been successful.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I think you know, you gotta go to where people if you know I drove two hours, like how terrible a person can I be if I drove two hours to your conference room to talk to you?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I can't be that bad a person.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: So showing up is a big thing.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: The other one is um, you know, the partnerships and the validators.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: So uh as folks know, uh the plain sec community um is significant.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um half of the farms in in Lancaster, as I'm sure you and listeners know, are plainsect farmers and they're you know not online, they're not, you know, in the email chains, uh, you know, and they're a very independent culture, you know, going back a long time.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: And um overall we have good relief, but sometimes you know, we come across farmers who are like, nope, don't come on my farm, nothing to see here, can't even when we know that they're um may not be in compliance uh for for different clean water.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: So the way that we've been doing it is try to partner with Amish leadership, um, uh with the bishops, um, you know, with other elders, for them to talk to farmers that are being a little bit stubborn, that you know, we're we're well-intentioned, we want to help farmers uh be in compliance and have an efficient uh and healthy operation.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, we're not interested in punishing anybody.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we just want the things to be um you know productive and safe uh and for everybody to be good neighbors.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: So that's been another way is you know, we try to try to be nice when we can, then we you know try to get allies to talk to people uh among their communities.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then we always have the you know the sticks, we always have the enforcement stuff, but you know, that's the last tool I want to reach for.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: When you think of your grandkids looking at Chesapeake Bay watershed as adults, what do you hope they say?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I haven't even hit trivia yet.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh I hope that they um appreciate that we did the best job we could carrying the baton from our generation to the next generation, from the previous generation to the next generation.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um if there's any contribution we've had in the Biden administration um in this EPA, it's bridging these historic um adversarial relationships with producers and farmers that does not exist anymore.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_02: It just doesn't.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've been in 60-something meetings with farmers and local farm bureaus and winter agricultural meetings, you name it.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: And it's uh you know, we're working together.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, I I think that that's the biggest contribution that we have.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope that they say, wow, there really isn't much to do here to clean up this uh this bay and these local streams.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Gosh.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, Pops.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks so much for coming for going fishing.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: There we go.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I like that plan.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it is time for trivia.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: And we in the intro, we talk about all the different places that you represent, which is just crazy.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, just to refresh Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and seven recognized tribes.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_03: That is a crazy amount of representation.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I want to see how well you know the Keystone state.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: So these are going to be.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, look at that look on his face.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, this must be like staring.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-oh.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for those not in the room, like I'm I'm my eyes are burning until our staffers approximately.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no, I didn't send them the trivia.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_03: I never send the trivia.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, not their fault.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_03: Your fault.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_03: So here we go.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, what amusement park was founded in 1906 to entertain workers at a chocolate company in the area?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: Hershey Park.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it is.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_03: Very good.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: The largest freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia and Tinicum Township, is the John Watt National Wildlife Refuge.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: I totally got this one, Ken.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: John Hines.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_03: It is John Hines.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm digging this.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_03: Bill Murray has coffee at Punksitawney, Pennsylvania's fictional top, tip top cafe over and over and over again in what 1993 comedy.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: Groundhog Day.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: It is on a roll.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm digging this.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: What is the state bird of Pennsylvania?
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: I was on a roll.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_02: I want to say Cardinal.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's the roughed grouse.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I wouldn't have been close.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: So forgive me.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's all right.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's all right.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to fail forward.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_03: That is exactly right.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_03: Falling water.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_03: See what I did there?
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well done.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thanks.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, the King of the Dead joke.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what to tell you.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, is a house in Laurel Highlands designed in 1935 for the Kaufman family, who were owners of Pittsburgh's largest department store by which renowned architect?
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: Frank Lloyd, right.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: FLW, if you will.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: Since you already said his name, no buzzer.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: That works perfectly.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: What is the significance of September 27th, 19 uh 1777 in Pennsylvania, more specifically, Lancaster's history?
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's a tough one.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm coming up empty on this one.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: One specific day that was significant for Lancaster.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Lancaster City.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, yeah.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: Can I phone a friend?
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_03: We haven't done that before, sure.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_03: Why not?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: Rob Fogle.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: Calling you in.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_03: It was the capital of the United States of America.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: I did not know that.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: For one day only.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: For one day.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: One day.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a huge history student.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to say buffer geek.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a stud always learning.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: I love that colonial.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm personally a history nut.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: I like that one.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: All right, right on.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I've I've been referred to as nutty plenty of times.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um finally, what is the name of the Amish Run Spring Auctions?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_03: Contrary to their name, you usually can't buy wet dirt.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: We're digging deep on this one.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh nice pun.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: Local.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: Can I local?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: Wet dirt?
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_03: What would wet dirt be?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: Mud.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: And if you are not buying it, you are sell mud sell.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: This is why collaboration is so important.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: People working together among differences, bring different skill sets together to rescue your guest on the podcast.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_03: Pennsylvanians, the proof is in the pudding.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: You are in good hands.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: There you go.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_03: Oh man.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that is our show.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_03: You wanted to remind people of something.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, everybody.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: A reminder to sign up to be an official partner organization.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_03: Just go to our website.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: At our website, LancasterCleanwaterpartners.com.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: There you go.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: Adam Ortiz, for coming and talking with us.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_03: And uh man, your message is awesome.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_03: Collaboration, can't say enough about it.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh well, Ken, Ken Allison, you're awesome.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Always good to be here.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: And thanks for letting me share some notes.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: Also, you've inspired me and my team.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going to continue.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: But thank you so much.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_02: So grateful for the time today.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we will be back in just a couple of weeks, probably talking about Water Week.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: Lancaster Water Week coming up in June.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_03: So until then, take care.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: Bye bye.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_03: Cleanwater Conversations is brought to you by Lancaster Clean Water Partners.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_03: If you have comments or suggestions on show topics, please contact us at infol at Lancaster Cleanwater Partners.com.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for listening.