Our Planet, Our Stuff, Our Choice - EPA Video Competition

The EPA is sponsoring the "Our Planet, Our Stuff, Our Choice" video competition

Videos must be 30 or 60 seconds long and focus on these themes:

• Reducing/reusing
• Recycling
• Composting
• Consumption and environmental footprint

Videos due February 16, 2010

Hey, you can even win some CASH! How cool is that?

Click here for full details

GOOD LUCK!

Trash Control - tales from the stormwater dark side

As mentioned, in yesterday's blog entry, trash and litter effect everyone and as reported in the Keep America Beautiful report, the direct costs to the US economy is a staggering USD 11.5 Billion per annum. I am still trying to wrap my head around that one - I mean, YIKES and WOW!!!! (and NOT in a good way).

In addition to educational programs, adding more trash receptacles in more convenient places and aiming to change social behaviors, another way to improve stormwater runoff is by helping contain fugitive trash and litter.

This picture shows the collection area of our TerreKleen hydrodynamic separator and about 12 months of trash collected and contained from the parking lot of a big box store. The maintenance team can easily access the collection area by removing the grates or manhole covers on top. Trash is collected by vac truck and disposed of in accordance with state and local guidelines.

Trash control - an $11.5 billion dollar problem and a major contaminant for stormwater

Stormwater contaminants are, for the most part, usually the same. The issues that we typically see in our business center on: heavy metals, hydrocarbons, phosphorous, and sediment loading. Another MAJOR issue our clients have is TRASH CONTROL.

It might not be an issue that you have thought about, but I spent some time this afternoon looking to see if anyone had calculated the amount of trash and debris that finds its way into Long Island Sound. While I didn't find information specifically targeted for Long Island Sound, I did find a nation-wide study funded by the non-profit organization, Keep America Beautiful, detailing the volume of trash/litter found in the US, the toll it takes on the American economy and behaviors that contribute to littering. The results of their survey were released on December 3, 2009.

Some shocking key findings from their report:

Litter conservatively costs our nation $11.5 billion per year. These are direct costs, including cleanup and prevention programs, and are carried largely by businesses and taxpayers. Not included in this figure are significant indirect costs:

• Decreased property values. 93% of homeowners, 55% of real estate agents and 90% of property appraisers surveyed stated that a littered neighborhood would decrease their assessment of a home’s value
• "Opportunity Costs” such as decreased commerce and tourism in blighted areas
• Health effects and related costs of littered environments

The study concludes that at least 51.2 billion pieces of litter are left on roadways in the U.S.; an average of 6,729 pieces of litter per mile.

Cigarette butts comprise 38% of all items littered on the highways, streets, parks and playgrounds (in urban, suburban and rural areas of America).

The Keep America Beautiful Report detailed littering behaviors, identified factors that encouraged littering and made suggestions on how to reduce litter. I think it is an important report and encourage you to read their findings in full. For executive summary and full report, click here.

More on trash control tomorrow.

Easy retrofit solution for stormwater systems and trash control

One of our municipal clients here in CT contacted us one day because he was often called by a local resident with complaints about trash, bottles, cans and other debris which had been thrown out car windows and would travel through the storm water system and end up in this resident's wetlands/backyard. The area is more of a suburban almost rural area, so you can imagine that all of this trash was even more visible and a real eyesore to anyone driving by. The resident was just plain tired of cleaning up after everyone else and the town needed a long term solution, extremely low maintenance solution to correct the problem. What could we suggest?

After a quick survey of the area, we saw the offending storm structure and realized the best alternative in this case would be our self-cleaning, stainless steel, wedgewire screen and orifice place.

If you are not familiar with wedgewire screens, they are very cool and have a wide range of applications - not only as trash and debris screens at hydro plants around the world, but also as fish exclusion in ponds/streams and another common use is in detention ponds to prevent trash/debris and small animals from getting into the system.

In this case, sediment, trash and debris would be prevented from entering the system, yet water could still flow through the system at high flow rates. It was an easy fix for this problem and the complaints stopped!

The top picture shows the screen after the first major rain storm. You can see the leaves stuck to the screen. When the system dries out, the leaves will fall off. The system is constantly working.

The picture of the red grate is the top of the structure and if the water gets high enough, it will flow into the system this way.

Our screens are highly engineered and designed for site specific applications.

Public comment period for NYS storm water manual has been extended to Feb. 3

The NYS DEC invites public comments for their storm water manual which is currently being updated. The public comment period has been extended until February 3rd. Here is the link

Sustainable Strategies for Stormwater Planning and Design Workshop and Tradeshow

We hope you will meet us next week at the Sustainable Strategies for Stormwater Planning and Design Workshop and Tradeshow.

This workshop is sponsored by the Westchester County Soil and Water Conservation District / Dept of Planning and New York City Soil and Water Conservation District.

Meet us:
December 2, 2009
Westchester County Center, White Plains, NY
Cost $95.00
Educational Credits: 5.25
Register is Lisa Vasilakos from Westchester Dept of Planning: 914-995-3780

Stop by and see us!

Hold the Salt, Pass the Brine -upcoming meeting on de-icing

Being involved in stormwater, we attend a lot of environmental meetings. There was an excellent meeting we attended in 2006 on brine systems. We got an invitation to attend a follow-up meeting on this topic and it is coming up on Friday, December 4th. These meetings are sponsored by Westchester County Parks - their Conversations on Conservation series. Meetings are always educational and instructive. Here are the details. I hope you can make it.

Hold the Salt, Pass the Brine
Environmentally Friendly Methods for De-icing our Roads
Friday, December 4th, 2009
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
8:00 AM registration
Location: Greenburgh Public Library
300 Tarrytown Road
Elmsford, NY

Topics covered:
Benefits of De-icing with Brine
Michael Simone, Supt Highways, Town of Carmel, NY

Environmental Impacts of traditional vs. Modern De-icing
Jim Reed, Reed Environmental Enterprises Inc.

Impacts of Road Salt on the Environment and Organisms
Dr. Stuart Findlay, Aquatic Ecologist, Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies

Joseph "Bud" Nicoletti, Commissioner of Public Works, White Plains, NY will be moderating

RSVP by December 2nd: 914-864-7047

We wrote an article on the last meeting and posted it on our website. Click here
to read about the last meeting. Hope to see you there!