How does the project you work on demonstrate an intent to comply with a discharge permit? When someone chooses to disregard their NPDES permit requirements that were developed with the purpose of sediment and chemical pollution out America's streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas, they face some serious penalties, like fines up to $37,500 per violation per day and even criminal jail time! Of course, we've all just read about the $10 MILLION dollar fine against American Sealcoat Manufacturing, LLC. I "have a sneaking hunch" they could have avoided such a harsh penalty if they didn't choose to blow off their Industrial NPDES General Permit requirements, what do you think?  In other words, what may have cost them to set up and monitor their site would not be wasted on paying Clean Water Act permit violations and the costs to clean up their own mess! 

Is your site in compliance with the permit when you get hammered with a massive amount of rain water?

The federal Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, requires that pollution
sources such as Gainesville's sewage plant and the chicken plants upgrade their treatment systems to meet specific standards. In many places, significant funds were invested and most waterways are cleaner today.

But, Flat Creek, a 6-mile tributary that flows through Gainesville and is the focus of a new city greenspace program, is still polluted with high levels of bacteria when it rains. The stream flows through city neighborhoods, near schools and churches before entering Lake Lanier, which provides drinking water for 4 million people and is visited by 7.5 million people annually.

 

Where you have large concentrations

of animal production, you tend to have a buildup of nutrients - phosphorus is the one that accumulates - in soils around concentrated animal-producing regions.

Phosphorus is one of the nutrients that plants need to grow, and for most of human history, farmers always needed more of it. 

Traditionally, farmers got phosphorus from animal manure. So if you

grew crops like corn or wheat, it was good to have poultry or hogs nearby. Your grain fed the animals, and their manure fed your crops. Everything worked together.

 Then came industrial fertilizer: big phosphorus mines; factories for making the other important nutrient, nitrogen; and railroads or highways to carry that fertilizer to any farmer who needed it.

With the development of the inorganic fertilizer industry, it's possible to grow grain without having animals nearby. So you decouple the animal agriculture from the grain agriculture, and there you have it today.......POOR WATER QUALITY!

In our country when enough people stand up and say enough is enough, something like the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Implementation Plan gets rolling. Even though the challenge is great, it's better than what China is doing for their horrible algae blooms, which is not much!

 

Lake Erie Algae Blooms are coming back with a vengeance this year and red tides moving up the Pacific Coast!  Fish and manatees are dieing in record numbers in some areas!  Everyone needs to be aware of the work and sacrifice it takes to protect our water. It's worth it in the end, we've already proven that in America!

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We just fiinished our August MS4 CECI certification course and it was awesome!  Stormwater professionals and government officials in the business for decades say the MS4 CECI course is the most effective stormwater training course they've ever attended.  

 

 

"The instructor didn't just flip through power point slides. I feel like he really cares about the people he's training!"

 

"The course was challenging and interactive, I enjoyed the water sampling and stream survey excersizes in the field."

 

"Luke obviously loves what he does. His passion for preserving our country's quality of life is truly inspiring."

 

Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion and a MS4 CECI photo ID card when you pass the test.

 

Call us at 678-469-5120 and speak with Rita, or sign up at ms4training.com.