Dominion Volunteers Pitch In To Help Environment In Nine States From Texas To Connecticut

October 8, 2002

 

RICHMOND, Va. -- From Texas to Connecticut, Dominion employees in nine states are pulling on work gloves and heading out to parks and natural areas this fall as part of the company's third "Putting Our Energy to Work for the Environment" campaign.

More than 750 employees are participating in the daylong projects that target clean up, repair and construction projects at parks and natural areas in communities where Dominion operates. The projects began Sept. 20 in Houston, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Okla., and will conclude in mid-October in New London, Conn.

In addition, a tree will be planted at each of the sites in remembrance of the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Once again Dominion employees are demonstrating their personal commitment to protecting the environment in a very tangible and specific way," said Thos. E. Capps, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Dominion is proud of our employee initiative and the partnership we have with our communities as together we continue to make environmental protection and stewardship a top priority."

This year, the overall effort was expanded to nine states from eight last year and five in 2000, and 15 projects compared to 13 last year and seven in 2000. The number of Dominion volunteers has grown to 750 from 400 in 2000 to 650 last year. Projects selected by employees include restoring a greenhouse for educational use, building a pedestrian bridge to access an educational area, removing debris to beautify a city entrance, planting native plants and clearing trails near a pond.

The Dominion Foundation is supporting employees' volunteer efforts by donating $2,500 per project for supplies and materials.

The projects are:

Virginia

Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, Portsmouth -- October 15
Volunteers will be building an outdoor pavilion to enhance the center's outdoors educational program. (Media contact: Chuck Penn, 757-857-2700)

 

Lake Anna State Park, Spotsylvania -- October 15
Partnering with the Virginia Department of Forestry, volunteers will stabilize a shoreline using cabled cedar revetments and coconut fiber logs. This project would be used as a demonstration project to show lake property owners shoreline restoration techniques. (Media contact: Rick Zuercher, 804-273-3825)

Summer Hill Elementary School, Richmond -- September 25
Volunteers will be restoring a greenhouse and creating an outdoor learning laboratory in the school's courtyard, dubbed "Our Atrium for Education." (Media contact: David Botkins, 804-771-6115)

Temple Hall Farm Regional Park, Leesburg -- September 26
Volunteers will build a bridge so visitors can access an interpretive area, plant trees and clear brush. (Media contact: Le-Ha Anderson, 703-796-9308)

North Carolina

4-H Environmental Education Conference Center, Columbia -- September 26
Volunteers will be building a gazebo to enhance outdoors educational opportunities. (Media contact: Chuck Penn, 757-857-2700)

Ohio

Canton Development Partnership, Canton -- September 24
Volunteers will beautify the entrance to Canton from the northern gateway and will remove concrete, debris and unusable topsoil. (Media contact: Neil Durbin, 216-736-6239)

Slavic Village/Mill Creek Falls History Center, Cleveland -- September 25
For the second year, volunteers will be working to beautify the Mill Creek Falls area. Volunteers will be clearing and landscaping a vacant lot at the corner of Warner and Turner Roads. (Media contact: Neil Durbin, 216-736-6239)

Pennsylvania

Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh -- September 26
Volunteers will be working on pond restoration at the Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, which is the headquarters of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. Volunteers will be planting native plants and clearing trails. (Media contact: Elmore Lockley, 412-392-2467)

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, DuBois -- October 4
Volunteers will build a deck around the educational building at the Pennsylvania Game Commission Elk View site, stain the education pavilion and seating area, and general site cleanup. (Media contact: Elmore Lockley, 412-392-2467)

West Virginia

Mt. Storm Public Boat Launch Area, Bismark -- September 25
Volunteers will build a floating dock and upgrade a path for scuba divers to access the lake. (Media contact: Bob Fulton, 304-627-3200)

West Virginia Raptor Rehabilitation Center, Fairmont -- September 24
Volunteers will prepare habitats to attract indigenous wildlife, correct soil erosion and plant shrubs. (Media contact: Bob Fulton, 304-627-3200)

Texas

Melrose Park, Houston -- September 20
Partnering with Houston Parks, volunteers will be painting the community center that was damaged by Tropical Storm Allison in the fall of 2001. (Media contact: Peggy Cole, 504-593-7301

Louisiana

Parkway Partners, New Orleans -- September 26
Volunteers will build raised beds and walkways, plant a variety of flowering and vegetable-bearing plants to create a community demonstration garden. (Media contact: Peggy Cole 504-593-7301)

Oklahoma

Keep Edmund Beautiful, Oklahoma City -- September 20
Working with Parkway Partners, Dominion volunteers will work at several sites. At Mitch Park, volunteers will be painting four buildings. At the Edmond Round-up Club Arena, volunteers will work on bleachers to make them more sturdy and safe. At Hafer Park, volunteers will be painting several picnic pavilions. (Media contact: Peggy Cole 504-593-7301)

Connecticut

New London -- mid-October
Millstone Power Station employees will plan an environmental project in New London. The project should occur in mid-October, after the scheduled refueling outage concludes. (Media contact: Peter Hyde, 860-440-4497)

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion British thermal units of energy per day. Dominion also serves more than 3.8 million franchise natural gas and electric customers in five states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.
 

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Media: David Botkins, (804) 771-6115
Cell: (804) 921-0580