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Know Your
Weather!
LAKE LANIER
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NPDES + WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
International Erosion Control Association
Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
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Greetings!
 Santa says "MERRY CHRISTMAS...and be good by protecting our streams, rivers ,and lakes from pollution when it rains and when the snow melt takes it to the creek!"
As our economy picks itself up by the boot straps, I hope that we all continue to grow in our awareness and concern for our nations water quantity and quality issues. |
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Beazer Homes Settles with NPDES Violations
 Beazer Homes USA, Inc., a national residential homebuilder, has agreed today to pay a $925,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at its construction sites in 21 states, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced. As part of the settlement, Beazer will also implement a company-wide stormwater program to improve compliance with stormwater runoff requirements at current and future construction sites around the country.
The lawsuit covers 362 sites in twenty-one states; 26 sites in Georgia, 45 sites in Florida, 39 sites in Tennessee, and 22 sites in South Carolina.
 Alleged Violations
· Discharge of pollutants in stormwater without a permit pursuant to Section 301 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311
· Failure to provide information in the form of permit applications, otherwise known as the NOI.
· Failure to comply with the conditions of permits issued pursuant to CWA Section 402, U.S.C. § 1342. Violations include the failure to design, implement and maintain adequate best management practices (BMPs) at construction sites.
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CATFISH FROM COUNTRIES WITH
CONTAMINATED STORMWATER
COMING TO A GROCERY STORE NEAR YOU.....WATCH OUT!
All of a Sudden COMPLIANCE with your NPDES Permit makes sense!!
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Ever wonder about the water
your meal grew up in? |
DELTA FARM PRESS
The government claims to want the U.S. food supply to be safe and clean, that such protection is paramount. With the other, it shakes hands with Asian trade officials and those who do business with them, all the while knowing that those same foreign officials and businessmen thumb their noses at safety and continue unabated shipments of tainted product into our country.
On this issue, we are being taken for suckers.
Think that's an exaggeration?
Consider these facts:
· In 2008, a paltry 2 percent of over 5 billion pounds of imported seafood was inspected. Inspection numbers have not improved since.
· In 2006 alone, 49 shipments of Asian catfish were turned back as unfit for the U.S. markets. This occurred with less than 2 percent of imports being inspected. That same year, Chinese aquaculture imports topped 4.5 billion pounds (representing 80 percent of U.S. imports and up 1 billion pounds over 1995).
· Among the things found in Asian aquaculture imports in the last decade: the antibiotic chloramphenicol and contaminants/carcinogens such as malachite green, fluoroquinolones, nitrofurans and gentian violet.
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We ALL Live Downstream, So Let's Work Together! 
Assisting the NPDES
Compliance and Enforcement Community |
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SHOULD STORMWATER POLLUTIONPREVENTION PLANs BE WRITTEN BY PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS ONLY?
"Should the practice of erosion and sediment control as placed on a designed stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) or E&SC Plan as we here in Georgia call it, be restricted to professional engineers?" To the casual reader, that question may seem a little pointless, considering that the overwhelming majority of erosion and sediment control (ESC) plans have been, are, and will continue to be prepared by engineers.In Georgia, Surveyors, Architects, Landscape Architects, Silvicultural professionals,Geologists and Certified Professionals in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) are all allowed to design and stamp erosion plans. Another element that clouds the question is the similarity in appearance between erosion and sediment control plans and engineering plans.
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Grady County-New Reservoir is Challenged
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The Army Corps of Engineers' decision to permit a $17 million, 960-acre recreational fishing lake in Grady County, Georgia is challenged, near the Florida state line.
Among other things, the challenge asserts that the project would destroy over nine miles of streams and could destroy up to 518 acres of valuable wetlands-significantly more than the 129 acres of wetlands estimated by the Corps.
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 As we prepare for the holdays and our new years resolutions, please remember about our incredible population explosion. Our world is growing by ~215,000 people every day. The United States is now roughly 5 percent of the world population and appears to be growing in that number.
In hopes that we all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy & Prospersous New Year, let gratitude for your blessings in this country guide you in your decisions to protect our water resources! Remember, your project, or business is not the only one getting rained on. IT ALL GOES TO THE CREEK! So 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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