Congratulations, Kevin Markham |
 Kevin W. Markham, ESI Vice President and Director of Ecology, has been appointed co-chair for the Infrastructure/Wastewater Committee of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. He will also continue to co-chair the Grant Criteria portion of the Program Committee.
Mr. Markham is Operations Manager for the Raleigh office. He provides support for the Ecology, Archaeology, and Site Assessment and Remediation Divisions operating from the Raleigh Office. Markham also serves as Director for the Ecology Division for ESI's North Carolina offices and in this role provides technical oversight and quality assurance/quality control on natural resource projects. He has more than 20 years experience providing natural resource assessments, protected species surveys, mitigation planning, and resource agency coordination.
To learn more about ESI's Raleigh office, click here>>>
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ESI Raleigh, North Carolina Office: In The News
ESI's Terri Russ is doing the groundwork, literally, for the location of the next phase of Hillsborough, North Carolina's Riverwalk project.
This project was recently featured in Durham, North Carolina's The Herald-Sun.
Read the full article by clicking here>>>
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Gopher Tortoises Are Now On The Endangered Species List
In 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a 90-day finding that the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) may warrant federal protection as a threatened or endangered species in the eastern portion of its range, under the Endangered Species Act. The decision was based following an initial review of a 2006 petition seeking to protect the gopher tortoise.
The Service has spent the past two years reviewing scientific and commercial data and other information regarding listing the gopher tortoise throughout all of its range. Based on the status review, the Service had an option of one of three possible determinations:
1) Listing is not warranted
2) Listing as threatened or endangered is warranted.
3) Listing is warranted but precluded by other, higher priority activities.
Click here to read Rachael Sulker's full article and discover how this news affects you>>> |
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ESI News
PROVIDING SUPERIOR SOLUTIONS TO ENVIRONMENTAL, NATURAL, CULTURAL AND SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE NEEDS
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Water Issues
Water is and always has been an important part in our daily lives. As human populations of the world dwelled near its shores, water played the role of a renewable supply of drinking water, a source of power and transportation, and provided food. As the world has progressed, little has changed regarding the fundamental benefits from water. We still drink it, travel on it, use it for power generation, and consume the fish from our rivers and oceans.
As our Nation grows, water quality and water quantity issues often make their way into the limelight; many issues are new, while some are old, and each presents a challenge in these economic times.
So what are some of the hottest topics being discussed around the Southeastern Region? Well, depending on where you live, you might be interested in the discussions below:
Nationwide Proposed 316(b) Regulations for Fish Impingement / Entrainment In late April, 2011, the US-EPA proposed a rule regarding cooling water intakes and the potential for fish impingement and entrainment.
According to Acting Assistant Director Nancy Stoner, this rule would establish a "strong baseline of protection and then allow additional safeguards for aquatic life to be developed through a rigorous site-specific analysis."
This rule, as proposed, would not impose any regulations for closed-loop cooling systems, but would affect other systems on a tiered scale, depending on the volume of water consumed (in MGD). Smaller operations (2 MGD) would have technology-based numeric limits for fish impingements and be provided an alternative to reduce intake flow rates. For larger operations (125+MGD), a site-specific analysis would be required to determine the appropriate technologies to reduce impingement and entrainment of fishes.
The public comment period for this proposed rule ends in mid-July 2011 and a final ruling is to be expected by the end of July, 2012.
Florida
EPA's response to FDEP's Petition against the Federally Established Numeric Nutrient Criteria: This letter dated 13 June 2011 does not grant or deny Florida's petition to remove the federally promulgated Numeric Nutrient Criteria for inland waters (Rivers, Streams, and Lakes). It does, however, imply and support that the primary responsibility to establish clean water standards lies within the powers of the State; hence EPA's commitment to a 15-month extension of the November, 2010 Federal Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Inland Waters of the State of Florida.
So what does this mean for Florida and other states? Read More>>>
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Meet Michael Stowe
 Michael Stowe is a Senior Scientist in the Jacksonville, FL Ecology Division of Environmental Services, Inc. (ESI).
Mr. Stowe has ten years experience in water resources assessment and management, including the assessment of water quality (physical, chemical and biological) and quantities of water resources within Southeastern aquatic ecosystems. Mr. Stowe also performs aquatic-related environmental impact assessments and biological evaluations, watershed land-use evaluations, aquatic habitat mapping and taxonomic identification (macroinvertebrate and ichthyologic) of freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems as a part of this diverse water resources program.
As an employee at ESI, Mr. Stowe oversees the surface water quality monitoring programs for the Jacksonville office and provides similar consultation to other offices throughout the Southeast with similar project design and implementation. Many of these projects involve development of water quality monitoring plans and monitoring strategies to meet the regulatory requirements set forth by the federal, state, and local agencies.
Call (904) 470-2200 or email mstowe@esinc.cc to speak with Michael Stowe. |
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ESI Project Highlights
Bear Branch Project
The Bear Branch Project in Frederick County, MD is a new project that ESI began in April 2011.
The original plans for this crossing was a concrete ford crossing designed by the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS). The Potomac Conservancy asked ESI's Doug Hutzell to review the proposal for fish passage.
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Client: Potomac Conservancy