Politics & Government
Fort Washington State Park Only One In Montgomery County To Get New Battery-Powered Tools
Fort Washington will be the only state park in Montgomery County to receive battery-powered tools meant to replace gas-powered ones.
FORT WASHINGTON, PA — A state park that sits within Upper Dublin Township is one of a handful across the commonwealth that are to receive a new set of battery powered tools designed to help phase out equipment that relies on fossil fuels to operate.
Fort Washington State Park will be the recipient of new string trimmers, leaf blowers and chainsaws that run on batter power, the switch part of a push by the state cut down on its use of gasoline-powered tools.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, who recently demonstrated the new tools during a visit to Colonel Denning State Park out in Cumberland County.
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"We are replacing gasoline-powered with battery-powered tools to further reduce our carbon footprint and lessen the noise from this equipment that impacts state park visitors enjoying the quiet of nature," DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn said that the new battery-powered tools would be distributed to 20 different state parks across Pennsylvania, with Fort Washington being the only state park within Montgomery County to be a recipient.
Find out what's happening in Upper Dublinfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The DCNR under the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf says it has invested in various green energy projects in Pennsylvania state parks, such as the installation of 19 solar arrays; the addition of 33 plug-in electronic and hybrid vehicles; public EV charging stations at 33 state parks and state forests; and energy efficient measures that are estimated to save more than $30 million over a 20-year period as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5,110 annually.
The DCNR secretary's recent visit to Cumberland County to announce the battery-powered tool initiative is part of her 2021 Sustainability Tour, according to a DCNR news release. The tour kicked off in September at Presque Isle in Erie County with an announcement that new solar arrays at Presque Isle would take that park to net zero energy.
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