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KNOW YOUR WEATHER BEFORE BREAKING GROUND!
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NPDES + WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
International Erosion Control Association JOIN TODAY
Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
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Greetings!
SIX THOUSAND DEAD PIGS in your river and the government says not to worry, your drinking water is "OK"! 
For people living in China, it's just another day drinking from the river they discharge a lot of untreated poop to!
Nearly 6,000 dead pigs have been removed from the Huangpu River, one of the main tap water supplies of China's largest city, Shanghai. By early evening, Tuesday March 12th, authorities said a total of 5,916 pig carcasses had been found either floating in the river, along its banks, or seemingly thrown into bushes nearby.
A total of 233 barges have been searching in the waterway, according to a statement by the Shanghai government. There is growing concern among Shanghainese citizens regarding the quality of their tap water. Shanghai is a city, which has become rapidly industrialized, a process which has had a serious impact on the local environment. Locals are increasingly aware and worried about environmental factors which might harm their health.
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 Fish, their habitat, and America's free enterprise system are vital to America's water quality. In this newsletter we often present the undeniable evidence that proves a healthy economy cannot exist without a healthy environment. It took the passage of the Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, otherwise known as the Clean Water Act, to help turn America's water quality around at a time when industry and land disturbing activities were legally discharging massive amounts of pollutants and thousands of people were impacted. It was the unregulated loss of topsoil as well as industrial chemicals and sewage discharges that were making people and our environment, sick. Although some of this is still going on today, it's been greatly reduced through willing compliance and ongoing enforcement of the few people that willing violate environmental laws that protect American citizens, our economy and environment. If we look at China today we see the delayed impact of a sick and struggling environment on a healthy economy.  Can you imagine a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) industry dumping 6 thousand dead and diseased pigs into the Chattahoochee River, a river used for drinking water for millions of people? This happened just over a month ago in Shanghai, China. It's only one of hundreds if not thousands of serious problems that country faces with water quality, let alone the plethora of other environmental issues!
Fishing provides food, jobs, and recreational opportunities and 
industry provides the tax base and capital dollars it takes to invest back into our watersheds! When our fisheries improve, so does the economy! Are you informed about your water?  We must focus on smart protection and restoration in the right places. This is especially important at a time when budgets are shrinking from the government's oversight of environmental protection.
Governments and private organizations must pool their resources to realize bigger results, more cost-effectively. The bottom line is this: protecting and restoring habitat for fish also helps re-energize the social and economic connections that make our communities good places to live and work. But don't take our word for it. Just look to the communities around the country investing in habitat restoration and conservation. It's working for them and it can work for your community, too.
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CLEAN WATER ACT ENFORCEMENT
 WALMART GET's HAMMERED WITH AN
81 MILLION DOLLAR FINE!
Walmart has resolved civil violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board has approved a Consent Agreement and Final Order between Walmart and EPA requiring the company to take significant actions to ensure future compliance and pay a civil penalty. In related actions, Walmart also pleaded guilty today in cases filed by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco to six counts of violating the Clean Water Act and in Kansas City, Missouri to violating FIFRA.
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SEATTLE & KING COUNTY PAY for
ILLEGAL DISCHARGES
 Both Seattle and King County operate combined sewer systems. Seattle conveys the combined sewage it collects to King County's system for treatment prior to discharge.
KING COUNTY - Between 2006 and 2010, the County discharged approximately 900 million gallons of raw sewage to waters of the United States on an annual basis through unauthorized discharges involving combined sewer overflows (CSOs), in violation of CWA Section 301. During this time period, the County also violated its NPDES permit effluent limitations, including total suspended solids, fecal coliform, pH, and settleable solids, at one of its wastewater treatment plants, in violation of CWA Section 402. Furthermore, between 2006 and 2009, the County allowed wastewater to bypass secondary treatment at one of its wastewater treatment plants, in violation of its NPDES permit terms and CWA Section 402.
King County will pay a civil penalty of $400,000. The United States and the State of Washington will each receive $200,000 of the total civil penalty.
SEATTLE - Between 2007 and 2010, the City discharged approximately 200 million gallons of raw sewage to waters of the United States on an annual basis through unauthorized discharges involving combined sewer overflows (CSOs), including dry weather overflows, and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), in violation of CWA Section 301. During this time period, the City also improperly operated and maintained its combined sanitary sewer (CSS), resulting in unauthorized discharges of raw sewage to public and private properties through overflow events, including basement backups.
The City of Seattle will pay a civil penalty of $350,000. The United States and the State of Washington will each receive $175,000 of the total civil penalty.
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A Consent Decree....Can it be used to Change Environmental Law?
Marten Law
 A recent Ninth Circuit decision calls into question the government's practice of using consent decrees in a judicial proceeding to set policy for nationwide environmental matters. Specifically, the court held it is an abuse of discretion for a federal court to enter a consent decree that permanently and substantially amends an agency rule that would have otherwise been subject to statutory rulemaking procedures. In other words, it's not right or legal to back door the legal process to change environmental laws. MORE |
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"American's Working Together for WATER QUALITY!"
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DAMS ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE
MORGAN FALLS DAM
Bull Sluice Lake is created by Morgan Falls Dam, a small hydroelectric dam located 10 miles north of Atlanta along the Chattahoochee River at the northern end of Sandy Springs and crossing the river westwards into eastern Cobb County. Originally constructed by Georgia Power to provide electricity for Atlanta's streetcars, it now provides enough power for about 4,400 homes. It was named for then recently deceased Georgia Power president S. Morgan Smith's mother whose maiden name was Morgan. At the time it was by far the largest hydroelectric plant in the state. In 1924 it was rebuilt. In 1957 it was raised to regulate the flow from the larger Buford Dam, 36 miles upstream, in order to give Atlanta water during the hours it was needed most. It is 896 feet long, and 56 feet tall.
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MS4 TRAINING for
PHASE II Municipalities
We also help you with your reporting. We have teamed with CBI, the nations premier MS4 Reporting Software. Are you having a difficult time organizing all of those records and submitting that Annual Report to you state environmental agency? Not only do we provide MS4 Training for cities, counties, DOTs and universities, we also get you connected with a cost effective solution for your MS4 Annual Reporting Requirements!
The MS4 Web and Desktop programs are customizable state of the art software that can make annual reporting less expensive, much simpler, and a lot easier!
CONTACT US if want to be MS4 certified and/or need more information about our highly rated training and MS4 reporting software!
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 It's important that we sacrifice a little to give our future generations an equally great place to work, live, fish, hunt, and enjoy. Before the Clean Water Act was passed, sediment, sewage, and chemicals caused America's rivers, like the Chattahoochee River, to be void of fish. As Americans, we cannot take our eyes off of the importance of water quality. Respecting our neighbors downstream is what the Clean Water Act is all about!
There is a lot happening today with water regulations that affect a diverse community of public and private entities. If you have areas of interest that you would like included in this newsletter, please contact us at 678-469-5120.
Sincerely,
 
T. Luke Owen,PG President/Principal Trainer and Consultant NPDES Stormwater Training Institute |
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