Chatham – On September 8^th at 9am the Greening Partnership Environmental Award will be presented to Union Gas at Union Gas Headquarters – 50 Keil Drive in Chatham. The Award is presented quarterly to two landowners, one school and one business who have undertaken exceptional steward projects. This year’s recipient for the business category is Union Gas.  The Award was hand carved from American Elm by Highgate’s chainsaw artist- Robbin Wenzowski.

“Union Gas has been a significant stewardship leader in the community for the past 10 years contributing over $130,000”, says Randall Van Wagner – Environmental Project Manager with the Greening Partnership and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA). In April, an Earth Day event at the Grand Avenue Water Treatment Plant was sponsored through a generous Union Gas donation. Marcelo Villanueva – Manager of Utility Services helped students from Chatham Kent Secondary School’s Earth Club and Ursuline College Collegiate plant trees and prairie plugs. At the Union Gas Helping Hands event on May, 20 Union Gas staff and family volunteered along with LTVCA staff and established tallgrass prairie at Thames Grove Conservation Area in Chatham. Native grasses and wildflowers were planted, and seed broadcasted throughout the two acre site. Tallgrass prairie is a rare ecosystem, an excellent pollinator habitat, home to many Species at Risk, an aesthetic value for residents, and controls erosion and runoff.

“At Union Gas, we believe that investing in the environment creates lasting benefits for people and communities,” said Dave Simpson, vice president, In-franchise Sales and Marketing and Customer Care, Union Gas. “We’re proud to support the important work that LTVCA is doing for environmental conservation in this community and humbly accept The Greening Partnership Environment Award for 2015.”

As part of Chatham-Kent’s Natural Heritage Implementation Strategy, The Greening Partnership Environmental Award has increased annual recipients to 4. The important, hard work of landowners, schools and business stewards is acknowledged and celebrated, while interest for future stewards to participate in the program is peaked.

Union Gas has been an ongoing supporter of the LTVCA, investing in the future of our youth and the environment in the Lower Thames watershed. We look forward to continuing this partnership in the future!

For information or inquiries:

Randall Van Wagner

Environmental Project Coordinator

GREENING PARTNERSHIP

Randall.VanWagner@ltvca.ca

519-354-7310 ext. 230