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F. X. Browne, Inc.'s

Sustainable Environments

August 2008

    

Water is supreme, and gold
Like fire at night stands out
Among all the substances that heighten human pride--
But if you want to celebrate Greatness in games, O my soul, you'll find
No brighter star in the vastness of space
Than the sun, no contest more glorious
Than Olympia--

~ The poet Pindar wrote many odes celebrating Olympic victors. This is from the first Olympian Ode, celebrating Hieron of Syracuse, who won the horse race in 476 B.C.

 

 

 

Editor's Notes:

 

New! RSS Feed Links Added to Sustainable Environments Blog
We've now made it even easier for our readers to get updates to our Sustainable Environments blog. We've added links on the blog page so you can add us to your RSS feeds, and receive automatic notification whenever there are updates or comments. Or, you can click on the RSS buttons in Internet Explorer, Firefox, or whatever browser you are using. We encourage you to visit and discuss!

 

Go Team USA!
Good luck to all the Olympic athletes in their bids for gold in Beijing

 

Topic of the Month:

 

Study Shows Naturalized Stormwater Basin Retrofit an Asset to Municipality

F. X. Browne, Inc. recently completed a project designed to provide information on the sediment and nutrient removal capacities of a naturalized stormwater basin retrofit. More...


Five years after the 2003 NPDES regulations took effect, the states and the EPA are re-issuing their stormwater Construction General Permits (CGP). The federal permit will apply only where EPA is the permitting authority, which is in five states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Idaho and Alaska); Washington, D.C.; most territories; and most Indian country lands. 

EPA is coordinating the permit with a second effort that is underway to establish national clean water standards, known as an effluent limitation guideline, for the construction and development industry. Upon finalization of the guideline, EPA plans to include its provisions into a new and improved five-year CGP to be reissued no later than July 2010. http://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/cgp


News Clips:


New Report Documents Health of Delaware Estuary 

The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary released its “State of the Estuary Report,” culminating two years of collaboration among environmental scientists in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. More...

 Two Philadelphia Sites Considered Green Showplaces 

EPA considers two sites in Philadelphia among the most eco-friendly, featuring infrastructure and low impact development features. More...

DEP, Others Act to Protect Aquatic Life From Thermal Shock in Delaware River  

With summer temperatures soaring in the upper Delaware River basin, the PADEP has signed an agreement that will help protect the region's recreational fishing industry. More...

Pine Creek Monitoring System Would Alert Residents of Floods 

A monitoring system envisioned for the Pine Creek watershed could ensure that residents in communities such as Hampton, Shaler and Etna will  know when the water is rising. If successful, systems could be installed in other watersheds regularly hit by flooding. More...

Nutria Blamed for Extensive Wetland Loss Nearly Exterminated

For decades, nutria in the Delmarva Peninsula have been destroying the wetlands of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. But scientists are hoping that will change. More...

 

Policy Update:

The US Army Corps of Engineers issued a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) in June on Clean Water Act jurisdictional determinations (JDs). This Regulatory Guidance Letter  explains the differences between two types of JDs (approved and preliminary) and provides guidance on when each kind of JD is required.

NY Governor Paterson announced an agreement with legislative leaders to reform the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) to better target incentives for the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites.
New York City has agreed to pay a $1 million fine and fund $4 million worth of environmental-benefit projects to settle violations related to delays in making sewer system and stormwater system upgrades to prevent overflows into waterways.
EPA's mid-Atlantic region is introducing a series of audio podcasts with environmental news and feature stories as well as helpful consumer tips. Called "Environment Matters," the podcasts will be available on their website and as an RSS feed for automated distribution.
The Delaware River Basin Commission has voted to permanently designate the Lower Delaware as Significant Resource Waters under DRBC’s Special Protection Waters program. The action establishes numeric values for existing water quality in the 76-mile-long stretch of river extending from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area downstream to the head of tide at Trenton, N.J. It also expands coverage of the DRBC’s SPW anti-degradation regulations to include the entire 197-mile non-tidal Delaware River from Hancock, N.Y. south to Trenton.
PA Governor Rendell has signed legislation that will provide a minimum of $100 million in new funding for flood-control projects in Pennsylvania communities hardest hit by frequent and devastating flooding.
The U.S. EPA has made a final determination not to regulate 11 contaminants on the second drinking water contaminant candidate list (CCL 2). The agency has concluded that the contaminants do not occur nationally in public water systems, or occur at levels below a public health concern.
The FGDC Wetland Subcommittee and Wetland Mapping Standard Workgroup has posted the draft wetlands mapping standard, which is designed to direct the current and future digital mapping of wetlands. 
The Pennsylvania legislature and governor have approved more than $1.2 billion in new funding for infrastructure improvements, including water and sewer system upgrades, but the budget did not include expected funding for farmers and Conservation Districts.


WaterSense Factoid  

The amount of water leaking from plumbing fixtures in U.S. homes could exceed more than 1 trillion gallons a year. Water leaked still requires electricity to pump, supply and treat it, but it's not being used beneficially - that's a real waste of energy resources! If one out of every ten American homes addressed their leaky plumbing fixtures, not only would it save lots of water but it could also save more than 400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, avoiding approximately 315,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions  that's equivalent to taking nearly 55,000 cars off the road.
http://www.epa.gov/watersense 

 

 

Events:

(Click on an event for more information)
 Only current events are listed on the events page

EPA Watershed Webcasts
 EPA Stormwater Webcasts
PA Dirt and Gravel Road ESM Workshops
 Pennsylvania River Sojourns
Villanova “Day of Stormwater” Seminar
PA Geosynthetic BMPs for Stormwater Management Workshop
NJ Clearwater Festival
NJ Wetlands Manual Training Workshop
GreenFest Philly
PADEP Hearings on Water Resources Plan
EPA Water Quality Modeling Workshop
TMDL Development and Implementation Seminar
National Nonpoint Source (NPS) Monitoring Workshop
Wetlands 2008 National Conference
PA Noxious, Invasive Weed Management Course
PA Westmoreland Conservation District Events
York County Watershed Weekend
 WEFTEC.08 Conference
APA Regional Conference
NALMS 2008

 

 

 

 

 

To view upcoming lake and watershed workshops, events and conferences, visit the F. X. Browne, Inc. website at www.fxbrowne.com/html/workshops.htm

 
Who Was Joe Pye?

One of the first flowers of late summer/early fall is the oddly named Joe-Pye Weed. From New England comes a tale of an itinerant American Indian medicine man by the name of Jopi. Folklore has it that Jopi extensively used the plant we now call Joe-Pye Weed to treat typhoid fever. He had some success with the herbal remedy -- thus the application of the medicine man's name to the plant. 

 http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_522690.html

Photo Credit: Joe-Pye Weed by StarbuckGuy on Flickr


Link of the Month:


New StormwaterPA Website 

The PADEP has just launched a new StormwaterPA website to help Pennsylvanians apply the most effective, proven techniques in stormwater management. StormwaterPA features video case studies, BMP resource materials, regulatory information, and planning information. The site also organizes information based on user, such as municipalities, developers, and engineers. The website is based on the Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual developed by DEP that contains a wealth of technical information on practices communities can adopt. Visit the new site at http://www.stormwaterpa.org/ 

F. X. Browne, Inc. was on the committee for developing the Pennsylvania Stormwater BMP Manual. For more information about stormwater management, stormwater BMPs, and stormwater engineering, please contact info@fxbrowne.com. 

Olympic Links
Official Website of the Beijing Olympic Games: http://en.beijing2008.cn/ 

Beijing Olympic Schedule: http://en.beijing2008.cn/cptvenues/schedule/ 

US Olympic Television Coverage (including athlete profiles and US team info): http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html 

Future Olympic Games: 


New Tools and Publications:

Grist Guide Published

The fine folks at Daily Grist have published, Wake Up and Smell The Planet: The Non-Pompous, Non-Preachy Grist Guide to Greening Your Day. Wake Up And Smell The Planet guides readers through the day with tips on green living, with the humor and wit Grist is known for. Purchase a copy from Powells.com and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to American Rivers.

Improved WQX 2.0 Includes Biological and Habitat Data

The EPA Office of Water has released Water Quality Exchange (WQX ) version 2.0, a data transfer system which now allows states, tribes and other organizations to share their biological and habitat monitoring results. This is an improvement over WQX version 1.0, which provides a way for states, tribes, and other organizations to share physical, chemical and fish tissue water monitoring data. All data shared using the WQX framework can be accessed on-line in the STORET Data Warehouse, EPA's repository for water quality data. http://www.epa.gov/storet/wqx.html 

Free Online Water Resource Mapping for K-12 Educators 

IMRivers announces the launch of IMRivers Junior, a mapping application geared toward students and ecological education. The goal of IMRivers Junior is to create a community of students passionate about water conservation, and to provide those students an invaluable educational resource. The IMRivers Team will donate a Web site and one year of service to your organization, so you may teach your students about the importance of waterways and waterway conservation. http://imriversjr.wordpress.com/ 

Understanding the Clean Water Act: An Online Course

The River Network is proud to announce the resurrection of the online course, Understanding the Clean Water Act. Course content will help users isolate specific water quality problems, identify possible solutions, develop and leverage existing programs and build effective outreach tools. The course is appropriate for staff, interns, volunteers and board members interested in learning more about the force of the Clean Water Act and related tools. http://www.cleanwateract.org 

CWP Post-Construction Stormwater Manual Published

The Center for Watershed Protection has published a guidance manual for post-construction stormwater management, "Managing Stormwater in Your Community: A Guide for Building an Effective Post-Construction Program." This guide provides practical tips, and also features a series of downloadable tools that are designed to be modified by local programs to assist with program implementation. The guide covers topics ranging from program planning, integrating stormwater with land use planning, developing locally-appropriate stormwater criteria, stormwater inspection and maintenance programs, and program evaluation and tracking. The tools include a program self-assessment; model post-construction stormwater ordinance; plan review, inspection, and maintenance checklists; and more. http://www.cwp.org/postconstruction 

 

 Newsletter Editor/ Design and Layout: 
Rebecca Buerkett


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F. X. Browne, Inc.  – Environmental Consulting

Engineers – Planners – Scientists
30 Years of Excellence & Innovation

 

 

Corporate Office: Lansdale, PA
 Pocono Office: Marshalls Creek, PA
 New York Office:  Saranac Lake, NY

 

For more information, call us at (215) 362-3878 or visit: http://www.fxbrowne.com.

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Unless otherwise cited, all photos in this newsletter © Rebecca Buerkett. Photos may not be used or reproduced without permission.
Clipart from Microsoft Office Online and other sources.