By Brett Rosenberg
November 3, 2003

The US Environmental Protection Agency and states with designated authority regulate stormwater discharges as point sources under its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Consequently, it is imperative that waste management professionals remain apprised of current regulations and best management practices to curtail violations of Clean Water Act rules. MWMA members had the opportunity to explore some of the implications of the Clean Water Act on Solid Waste Facilities and Operations, and the preventive practices and techniques being used to manage pollutants in stormwater, wastewater and solid waste during a special breakout session of the MWMA 2003 Fall Summit.

Kelly Hendryx, Portland (OR) Bureau of Environmental Services emphasized the importance of source control in addressing best management practices (BMPs) dealing with stormwater, wastewater and solid waste. Portland developed a city-wide stormwater management manual and requires collection facilities and solid waste transfer facilities to adopt stormwater BMPs, including spill kits for trucks and berms around newly constructed waste collection facilities. In addition, Portland has cooperative arrangements with facilities that discharge wastewater to the sanitary sewer, addressing washing activities, pretreatment programs and landfill leachate. The city has a tiered rate structure for these facilities that identifies the types and quantities of wastewater discharge. Furthermore, Portland has innovative programs that address dental wastes, which often contain heavy metals that would otherwise get incinerated or land filled, and multi'sector voluntary pollution prevention programs that have met with much success.

In her presentation of the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project, Josephine Powell, Director of Outreach for the Wayne County (MI) Department of Environment, described the strategies behind revitalizing a major urban river through a holistic watershed approach. Much of the revitalization efforts involve addressing stormwater and combined sewer overflow (CSO) issues. Through locally-driven initiatives, the Rouge River Project's Illegal Dumping Reward Program not only seeks to prevent solid waste from entering the river, but has the co-benefit of addressing urban blight and unsanitary conditions through offering citizens financial incentives. Similarly, local household hazardous waste collection programs have proven effective in preventing dangerous material from entering the watershed, either through direct discharge to the river or by leaching out of area landfills. These examples, along with enthusiastic public education programs, have proven to be cost-effective means of addressing solid waste issues that affect the Rouge River and serve as clear case studies for other communities.