The 7th Montour Trail ride will feature five different ride distances -- ranging from a 62-mile metric century ride to 6-mile family fun ride -- will be sponsored by the Montour Trail Council at 7:45 a.m. Saturday 9/26at milepost 0 beneath the Route 51 bridge in Groveton.

Riders can select intermediate-distance rides of 44, 24 and 12 miles. Staggered start times are scheduled for each ride.

Support will be offered for mechanical problems, assistance will be available along the course, and rest stops will be stationed along the course with fruit, snacks and beverages.

Helmets are mandatory for all riders. The entrance fee is $25 for adults and $40 for families.

Proceeds benefit the expansion and maintenance of the Montour Trail.

To access registration forms and for information, visit www.montourtrail.org; call 412-257-3011 or send an e-mail to thetour@montourtrail.org.

Air quality sampling by the state Department of Environmental Protection at Midland Elementary-Middle School has not detected unsafe levels of air pollutants or metals, according to state Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger.

DEP's investigation was prompted by a December 2008 report in USA Today that indicated potentially toxic air around the school. USA Today reported that its sampling at the school had detected the presence of chromium and manganese.

"Although our initial sampling at Midland did not indicate high levels of toxins, we continued testing for toxic metals and conducted additional sampling to determine the precise type and levels of chromium detected there," Hanger said. "Further testing showed that the levels of hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, were even lower than we had initially estimated."

DEP has installed air quality monitors on the school.

"Our testing found the total excess lifetime cancer risk from exposure to pollutants at the school is within the acceptable range identified by the Environmental Protection Agency," Hanger said. "We took action to verify the air quality because we understand parents' concerns about the health and safety of their children, and we are committed to reducing air pollution to cut the risk of disease and respiratory problems for both children and adults."

USA Today used the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicator to rank the school based on the pollutants likely to be in the outside air. But RSEI is a screening tool developed by the EPA to be used for establishing priorities.

Pollutant concentrations measured through sampling are much more reliable than modeled concentrations.

The EPA considers an excess lifetime cancer risk in excess of one in 10,000 (or 10 in 100,000) to be unacceptable.

At schools where DEP conducted air toxics monitoring, the department calculated the excess lifetime cancer risk -- the risk over the general overall cancer risk of four in 10 -- from exposure to measured pollutants.

The excess lifetime cancer risk for all toxic compounds measured was 0.12 in 10,000.

The ambient air sampling also was used to calculate the non-cancer health risk associated with the air toxic compounds measured. Midland had a calculated hazard quotient less than 1, which is considered acceptable by the EPA.

Dan Tournay, a recent Robert Morris University graduate, and Jennifer Ortitag, an RMU student, have produced a video showing the Scott Conservancy's woodlands.

The video takes viewers along trails and sunlit hillsides, and describes the land's ties to local history. It also features a Chartiers Valley student group helping to clean up acid mine drainage.

To view the video, visit www.pittsburghgives.org that is sponsored by The Pittsburgh Foundation, and type "Scott Conservancy."

With a simple, free download, visitors during the G-20 summit can take a guided walking tour of Downtown, narrated in English, Chinese, French, Turkish, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, or Italian, thanks to a new Web site developed by Robert Morris University.

RMU students from nine countries worked with the tour's author, University Editor Mark Houser, to translate the one-hour walking tour into their native languages and record them. Web/Social Media Designer Doug Derda built the Web site that hosts the tours.

The guides tell vignettes from Pittsburgh's history, including the rivalry between Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, and show off skyscrapers along Grant Street and Fourth Avenue and the theaters of the Cultural District.

The tour also shows listeners where to get a Primanti Brothers sandwich, and other practical information.

To listen to the tours, visit www.rmu.edu/g20.

Rescue 10, an $800,000 emergency response vehicle, was received at Pittsburgh International Airport last Wednesday 9/16with a traditional housing ceremony conducted by the Allegheny County Airport Authority's fire department.

Rescue 10 is an Oshkosh Striker 3000, an aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicle. It will be added to the fire department's fleet of crash trucks made for responding to aircraft emergencies.

"This truck will really enhance our capabilities and provide a more efficient and safer work platform for our firefighters," said Deputy Chief Brian Colella.

Rescue 10 has a capacity of 3,000 gallons of water, 420 gallons of foam and 500 pounds of dry chemical extinguishing agent. It's also wider and has a lower center of gravity for better stability and maneuvering.

Firefighters can pump water from the truck while the vehicle is in motion. Other vehicles can only pump while in a stationary position.

The vehicle was subsidized with a $600,000 Airport Improvement Program grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. The state Department of Transportation's Bureau of Aviation provided $100,000 of the remaining cost and the rest was covered by $100,000 in Airport Authority capital funds.

The housing ceremony for Rescue 10 at Fire Station Echo involved transferring water from the retiring Rescue 16 to Rescue 10. Rescue 16 will be taken out of regular service and will be used in education at the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Training Facility.

Crews then washed down the tires of Rescue 10. During the hub and spoke wooden wheels era, washing wheels kept the wheels from drying out after a fire and it cleaned the horse-drawn wagon before pulling into the fire station.

The final part of the ceremony involved having firefighters push the new apparatus into the firehouse, a fire service tradition that dates back to the 19th Century.

Airport Authority CEO Brad Penrod and General Roy Uptegraff from the 171st Air Refueling Wing joined the ARFF crew in pushing Rescue 10 into the station.