Doug Fessler, of Sunbury, has collected rocks and minerals since he was eight years old.

Nearly two decades later, while hunting fern fossils with a friend near the Shikellamy Overlook, Fessler received a warning from an uncle about rumors of radioactivity within some of those rock structures.

"I have a large mineral collection and broke down to buy a Geiger counter to test my minerals. I surprisingly had some radioactive rocks in my collection and decided to test the old rumor from my uncle about the small cave area near the Overlook," he said. "To my surprise, it took me very little time to have reading come up on my Geiger counter."

*Riverkeeper note: This post should not be printed in other media sources without prior permission from the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association. You can contact us at midsusriver@gmail.com with questions.

A stroll along the banks of the Susquehanna illustrates an unfortunate truth we've all likely accepted but struggle to address.

We have a major plastics problem. 

Litter lines our river, most of it in the form of plastic that will likely never fully break down in the environment. Plastic bait containers, plastic Dunkin iced coffee cups, plastic bags and a wide spectrum of other types of plastic materials cast aside, caught up in our river system and swept ashore.

After stocking trout on the Little Shamokin Creek recently, Jacob Bennett, of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, acknowledged that local waterways are definitely running below levels expected for mid-April.

"Yeah, they are low, which will likely mean very warm and shallow creeks," he said. "That is not great for stocked fish or places like Penns (Creek) with natural reproduction."

Statistically, every monitoring station the United States Geological Survey (USGS) operates in the region is currently below the 25th percentile and several are below the 10th percentile for this time of year, according to Matt Wilson, director of the Susquehanna University's Freshwater Research Institute.

Warrior Run High School senior Audrey Shipman created and shared a presentation about the Eastern Hellbender to 80 first-grade students at the Hughesville Elementary School on April19, 2023, via the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association's inaugural Environmental Education Leadership for Students (EELS) program.

Earlier this year, Audrey was one of several regional students who participated in a special environmental education workshop to kick off the EELS program, learning important skills and educational tools available to start giving presentations in local community venues.