Controlling stormwater pollution will protect Massachusetts’ waters

All across New England we keep seeing the same thing: rivers, ponds, and even coastal water showing signs of stress and decline due to excess nutrients and other pollutants that are deposited directly into waterbodies when stormwater flows after storms.
It’s often most obvious in warm weather, when algae blooms can turn the water’s surface a bright neon green. But even when not immediately obvious to our eyes, water quality data confirm that the ecological health of our natural community is suffering.
The good news is that we have effective and affordable ways to work on this problem.
Further, good old-fashioned New England common sense confirms that sometimes, low-tech is just as good as high-tech, and that preventing pollution makes better sense than cleaning the mess up later.
Here in Massachusetts, EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and our Mass DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] colleagues have just released an updated general permit that will guide the actions for more than 200 municipalities to address stormwater in the Commonwealth. This will update stormwater management efforts across Massachusetts, meaning better protecting rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and wetlands from pollutants – including high levels of nutrients.
We’ve worked on this for a long time, and we’ve solicited a lot of input from the local mayors, town managers and public works directors who will be charged with doing this work, as well as from watershed organizations and other stakeholders. We have listened to the input of local experts to develop an effective and state-of-the-art set of requirements – and the tools to implement them – maximizing flexibility for individual municipalities to tailor their efforts to their individual needs and local conditions.
Many of the solutions to our stormwater issues rely on commonsense tasks: sweeping roads to remove dirt and debris before it enters storm drains; inspecting drain pipes to ensure there are no sewer pipes illegally connected to them; routing stormwater to woods, lawns and rain gardens, to allow Mother Nature to help filter out pollutants before they collect in our waterways.
EPA is very aware of the concerns from all taxpayers and government officials, about adding costs to already stretched-thin budgets. We’ve worked hard to tailor the updated measures so that municipalities already working to comply with current requirements should only see a modest increase. As we’ve recognized cost concerns, we’ve provided flexibility, extended deadlines and we will have a tool to help municipalities estimate their costs. This is also why we’ve made the effective date for the permit a full 18 months from now, so that local managers have time to build this work into their budget cycle.
We are proud to work closely with our state and local partners in an effort to better protect the lakes, streams and other water bodies we all cherish.
Curt Spalding is regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office in Boston.

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