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Know Your
LAKE LANIER
Economic Stimulus +
Water Quality Protection
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NPDES + WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
International Erosion Control Association
Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
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Greetings!
Here's your chance for a $50 Bass Pro Gift Card!
Send your answers to the questions below to [email protected], and be placed in the running for a nice shopping trip to Bass Pro!
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 Well, here we are, years after HB285 was passed in 2003 that required individuals to be certified when performing land disturbing activities on construction sites disturbing 1 or more acres. If you need to be reintroduced to the certification requirements go to www.npdestraining.com for a list of course descriptions, or to www.gaswcc.org to get the requirements straight from the horses mouth. Either way, I think its a good idea to get your opinions about the program, so let's get started......
1) Do you believe that being certified on a construction site is making a difference with NPDES Permit compliance (ie; are daily, weekly and after 1/2 inch rain event inspections being properly performed)?
2) Do you think certification is making a difference with Georgia's water quality and quantity issues?
3) How often are you asked for your certification card?
4) Do you think the government is properly enforcing the certification requirements?
5) Now that we have so may vacant subdivision lots, are they stabilized, or just wasting away with every new rain storm?
6) Should investors, cities, counties, developers and financial institutions be held accountable for preventing their sites from eroding away?
We're interested in hearing your answers and any other comments you may have! Please send your responses to me personally at:
[email protected]
I Hope You Win! I'll announce the winner in the next Newsletter. Luke |
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"Georgia Taxpayers Continue to Pay for GDOTs Permit Violations!"
PROBLEM PROJECT(S):
SR 34BY FM SR 16/US 27 ALT TO JEFFERSON PKWY, & SR 34 BYP/NEWNAN FM JEFFERSON PKWY TO SR 34
VIOLATION: BUFFER ENCROACHMENT
FINE: $11,321
REQUIREMENTS of the ORDER: Properly comply withall NPDES General Permit requirements including design/implementation of Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Plan, inspections, monitoring and record keeping; submit approvable buffer restoration/stabilization plan, with implementation schedule; plan shall include removal of any structures within 25 ft buffer, proper vegetative restoration of buffer, restoration of stream channel, and removal of any sediment discharges to waters of the state and/or into adjacent properties, implement plan.
 A question we should all ask ourselves after reading the above violation is, "What did the individual with the Blue Card do to prevent it from happening?"
Although some GDOT contractors sincerely work to be "Green" or NPDES permit compliant (ER Snell is one of only several), it appears that most others have yet to take the protection of our surface water, seriously. It continues to make many of us wonder why the most obvious of violations (unauthorized clearing of a stream buffer) continues to be a common problem with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
We all know by now that it's the Certified Level 1A Fundamentals (Blue Card holder) who is ultimately responsible as site representative of the owner/operator of a land disturbance of one or more acres. Accidents and oversights happen, we're all human, BUT violating a stream buffer is a fundamental "NO NO" with Georgia's laws and continues to be an issue, so we can't keep looking at this kind of problem as an accident!
As a person who has trained thousands of individuals, (municipal, federal, state regulators, land developers, superintendents, contractors, consultants, engineers, interested property owners and home owners, etc.) I can say that the attitude most people have toward GDOT regarding this issue is horrible. More often than not, people see the reluctance GDOT has toward permit compliance by observing their projects as they drive by them. People see GDOT making sure their projects are NPDES Permit compliant, and that the individuals supervising their projects are not just certified, as they play their erosion control game. When a superintendant fails to implement a properly approved erosion control plan, inspect and maintain their sites according to their permit, it's the TAX PAYER THAT HAS TO PAY! A tremendous waste of hard earned money, goes right down the drain!
When it comes to permit violations and paying the resultant fines, the problem is not the actual sediment leaving a site boundaries, the problem is that, for whatever "good excuse", the performance requirements of the NPDES General Permit are not being performed! There can be no good excuse for that!
T. Luke Owen |
"Be Aware of your impact downstream as the rainwater flows from your site!
It keeps you and everyone concerned out of hot water!" 
Assisting the NPDES
Compliance and Enforcement Community |
 Fish Farm could face penalties up to $177,500 for federal Clean Water Act violations
NPDES, as a self-reporting program, relies on accurate and timely reporting to ensure protection of water quality. $177,500 is the maximum administrative civil penalty allowed under the Clean Water Act for this violation.
Violations included:
- Discharging pollutants without a permit for at least two months in 2005
- Failing to submit timely and/or complete Discharge Monitoring Reports from October 2005 through July 2010
- Failing to report quarterly sampling during the third quarter of 2006
- Failing to submit annual reports for 2008 and 2009.
- Exceeding permit limits for phosphorus during the months of October 2008 and January 2010
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The City of Griffin and Fayette County will be hosting the Central Georgia Erosion & Sedimentation Control and Stormwater Quality Workshop on Tuesday, October 19th and Wednesday, October 20th starting at 9 am both days. This year the presentations will be held at: Taylor Street Middle School, 234 E. Taylor St., Griffin 30223
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TIMBER COMPANIES WILL HAVE TO PERMIT THEIR LOGGING ROADS, Really?!
We didn't hear from that many of you, and since we feel like this is such an important issue... Worth Repeating.....We at the NPDES Training Institute cannot possibly count the number of times that land developers & builders, hunters and fisherman ask us, "WHY DON't TIMBER HARVESTORS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS"..... this type of thing (NPDES Permitting) is a direct response to an industry who has pushed the line until it snapped! The opinion appears to leave the Silvicultural Rule with little potency and, if broadly read, would require NPDES permits for every road in the country that is served by ditches or culverts that eventually discharge to natural surface waters and that is not already regulated by the Clean Water Act.
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IT's past time to be serious about our stormwater quality. The next time you finish a responsible construction project, take a drive, go for a hike, catch a fish or celebrate a successful hunt.....take a moment to think a grateful thought, make a difference somewhere with someone, and give thanks and honor to the United States of America and the sacrifice our past and present military men and women have provided so we can enjoy the liberty and freedom we share, and so easily take for granted! This Newsletter is intended to be a useful tool for all individuals involved stormwater management, especially those on construction sites. There is a lot happening now with water regulations! If you have areas of interest you would like to discuss, or areas of concern you would like included in this newsletter, please contact us at 678-469-5120.
Sincerely, 
T. Luke Owen, PG
Principal Trainer, NPDES Stormwater Training Institute
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