Extensive sewer system upgrades for Nashville, Davidson County
WASHINGTON, DC - As a result of a recent settlement, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro) will make extensive improvements to its sewer systems to eliminate unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and to control overflows of combined sewage and stormwater.
According to the investigation, Metro has been unlawfully discharging over 200 million gallons of untreated sewage and experiencing overflows of billions of gallons of combined sewage into the Cumberland River and its tributaries.
The upgrades are expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million and will eliminate approximately 1.3 million pounds of pollutants per year.
The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval before becoming effective.
New executive director for IECA
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO - The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) announced that Russell Adsit will take over as executive director. Adsit, a current member of IECA, holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia and a Masters in Agribusiness Management from Mississippi State University.
Adsit replaces Ben Northcutt, who served as the association’s executive director for 19 years before resigning in June 2007.
EPA recognizes Caltrans for stormwater management
SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) received the 2007 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act Stormwater Management Award for leadership, commitment, and expertise in the field of stormwater quality management. The EPA presented the award to the Caltrans Stormwater Management Program at the National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards Ceremony in October.
The department’s stormwater management program was recognized for its innovative research on stormwater runoff, its collaborative efforts on watershed protection, the development of new BMPs, and its extensive public education campaign.
Results of two-year stormwater runoff project released
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - AbTech Industries recently announced the final results of a two-year effort to protect Long Island Sound. The Filter Project, an EPA-funded initiative, was a collaboration between AbTech, the Long Island Soundkeeper, and the public works office to improve the city of Norwalk’s stormwater management program.
More than two hundred catch basins in South Norwalk were fitted with AbTech’s Smart Sponge® Plus filtration system to catch trash, debris, animal waste, hydrocarbons, oil, grease and bacteria before they could enter the Sound. Over the two-year endeavor, a total of 37,976 pounds of trash and debris were removed from the filters after three rounds of filter maintenance and cleanings.
Water quality analysis showed the filters effectively destroyed up to 95.9% of E. coli and absorbed 70.5% of oil and grease.
DuPont supports water quality initiative
DES MOINES, IA - DuPont recently announced a pledge of $250,000 to The Nature Conservancy in an effort to improve water quality in Midwestern watersheds and to further reduce excess nutrient runoff from agricultural fields.
DuPont is a charter member of the Conservancy’s effort to establish watershed monitoring and best management practices in the Boone River watershed in Iowa and the Mackinaw River watershed in Illinois. Information gathered from these projects will be used in watershed projects in other agricultural areas.
The $250,000 grant from DuPont will match funds pledged by The Kresge Foundation to the Campaign for Conservation: Saving the Last Great Places in Iowa. It is contingent on the Conservancy reaching its $9.5 million campaign goal by Feb. 1, 2008.
Projects recognized for LID leadership
BELTSVILLE, MD - The Low-Impact Development Center, a non-profit organization established to develop and provide information on protecting the environment and water resources through low impact development techniques, has announced the winners of its 2007 LID Recognition Program.
Six projects were recognized this year. In the Large-Scale Implementation category, Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. (WSSI; Virginia) was recognized for the design and implementation of a fully-integrated low-impact site, including a green roof, rain garden, underground cistern, three types of permeable pavements, underground gravel detention, and preservation of existing open space, wetlands, and streams, for its new office/warehouse space.
Lower Makefield Township, PA, was recognized in the Codes and Ordinances category for its low impact development ordinance revisions. The Township formed an Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) to help the community become more environmentally conscious. The EAC prepared an LID ordinance for the Township.
In the Educational Programs category, the Appoquinimink River Association (ARA; Delaware) was recognized for its MOT Senior Center rain garden retrofit, in which a dry pond stormwater management area was retrofitted into a bioretention area, or rain garden.
The WV Department of Environmental Protection (West Virginia) won in the Leadership Government Initiatives category for its ‘Rain Garden Retrofit in an Urban Landscape’ project in which a partnership between a number of state and regulatory groups raised public awareness of the benefit and function of rain gardens.
The Aikido Club Dojo project (Fredericksburg, VA) was recognized in the category of Leadership - NGO initiatives. Aikido in Fredericksburg (AIF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, is constructing a new headquarters facility designed to minimize environmental impact and utilize existing infrastructure to the extent practicable.
And finally, in the category of Technology - Innovative non-proprietary approaches and uses, Fairfax County’s project ‘Demonstrating Innovation: A Stormwater Retrofit at the Providence Supervisor’s Office’ was recognized. The project site covers 0.87 acres within the Accotink Creek watershed and features a landscaped bioretention basin, permeable pavers, and an extensive green roof.
Santa Monica project wins stormwater management award
COSTA MESA, CA - The California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) has chosen the Santa Monica Westside Water Quality Improvement Project as its 2007 Outstanding Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Implementation award winner in the subcategory of Treatment Control/Structural BMP Implementation.
Development and implementation of the urban runoff quality treatment facility, which was constructed deep beneath Mar Vista Park in western Los Angeles, demonstrated exceptional cooperation between two California cities to cost-effectively alleviate pollution caused by urban runoff in parts of both Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
The Westside project was initiated in an effort to improve water quality to benefit Ballona Creek, Santa Monica Bay and local beaches. The new facility treats 100 percent of the dry weather flow (2 to 3 cubic feet per second) and up to 36 cubic feet per second of wet weather flow. It removes a variety of solid, liquid and soluble pollutants. The facility was designed with no moving parts, chemical additives or electrical power requirements.
Design, permitting and construction support services for the environmentally responsible facility were provided by Black & Veatch.
