Have
you got a rain or snowmelt problem? Both active and inactive
construction sites must be inspected when they get rain or snowmelt
runoff. Maintenance inspections must be completed within 24 hours of
these events or within 24 hours of resuming the construction (whichever
comes
first).
Inspection checklist:
Are perimeter
silt fences, biologs, and other BMPs retaining sediment on site? Check
for tears, knock downs, and breaches. Remove the buildup, if sediment
has reached half the height of the BMP. Repair,
replace, or supplement any BMPs that are no longer functional.
Are the erosion control blankets or mulch effective?
Mulch should provide at least 90% soil coverage. If not, replenish it. Replace or repair torn
blankets, or supplement them.
Repair or replace inadequate inlet protection and remove any sediment build up.
Remove any sediment accumulated in surface waters,
including ditches, drainage ways, conveyance systems, or catch basins.
Check vehicle entrance BMPs. Repair, replace, or supplement those that are not preventing tracking
from an active site.
Remove any sediment accumulated in streets, curbs,
and gutters.
All nonfunctional BMPs must be repaired, replaced,
or supplemented by the end of the next business day after discovery, or as soon
as field conditions allow access.
Sediment accumulations must be removed from surface
waters within seven
days of discovery or of obtaining access, if precluded by legal,
regulatory, or physical access constraints.
Tracked sediment must be removed from paved
surfaces within 24 hours of discovery or sooner.
Sign
up early for the next industrial stormwater training workshop: May 10, 2017, at the MNDOT Training Facility in
Arden Hills. This half-day session will address SWPPP modifications due to
benchmark monitoring test result exceedances. For additional information
or to register, please visit the U of M Erosion and Stormwater Management Certification
Program’s web site. U of M workshops fill up early, so register soon.
We continue to make progress migrating
information from Chapter 6 of the PDF-based Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual, affectionately known as The Blue Book,
to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. This chapter of the Blue Book addresses erosion prevention and sediment control. As we migrate the information, we are updating it, too. We've created new pages
in the manual for five prevention practices and six sediment control practices. Each of these pages contains information on
applicability, effectiveness, design, inspection and maintenance, and costs for specific BMPs. At the same time, we're updating the Construction Stormwater page in the manual. We've also created photo galleries, added dozens of guidance documents, and added a section on general principles for erosion prevention and sediment
control. We anticipate doing additional work starting this summer.
The MPCA’s What’s In My
Neighborhood application has been helping people find environmental information
for nearly 15 years. You can search by location to find contaminated sites, environmental permit holders, air emissions, wastewater discharges, and solid or hazardous waste
activities in Minnesota.
An updated version of the application shows construction stormwater and industrial stormwater permits, as well as MS4 municipalities. It's a convenient way to access all sorts of environmental information. Check it out!
MPCA stormwater staff were busy in 2016 protecting
Minnesota’s water resources! In the construction stormwater program, inspectors:
Inspected more than 400 construction
sites -- These include routine inspections and complaint
follow-ups. As an EPA-delegated state
permitting authority, the MPCA must inspect
construction stormwater sites that disturb more than one acre of land.
Received approximately 100 complaints from the
public.
Carried out roughly 50 enforcement actions.
Both inspections and enforcement actions are valuable tools
to educate the regulated community on best management practices and to help prevent pollutants from entering surface water.
In the municipal stormwater program, staff:
Conducted nearly 30 audits of regulated MS4
programs. These were routine audits also required by the EPA.
Completed more than 25 enforcement actions, the results of audit findings or failures to submit required documents.
Partnered with the Minnesota Erosion Control
Association on three MS4 permit workshops to assist public entities in complying with their permits and
developing successful programs. MPCA, municipal, and private sector
presenters provided training on inspecting construction sites, MS4 systems and facilities, and
illicit discharges. The workshops are continuing in 2017, in Willmar on April 26 and Rogers on October 25. For more
information or to register, see the MECA
web site or the workshop flyer.
NOTE: The Minnesota Research Council has released the 2017 request for proposals to conductstormwater research.
MPCA continues to work on several stormwater research
projects, with a few projects wrapping up in 2017:
Iron-enhanced sand filters (IESFs) — MPCA worked with the City of Minneapolis, City of Prior Lake, and
the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District (RWMWD) to study the effectiveness
of five metro-area IESFs. The Minneapolis project’s lab analysis is
complete, with preliminary data analysis ongoing. We extended the RWMWD and
Prior Lake projects through 2017 for additional sampling. Barr Engineering is a
new partner on the RWMWD project, which will result in additional analyses at
this Maplewood Mall site, plus similar data from a roadside IESF that Barr is
monitoring. MPCA will eventually develop summary reports for all studied IESFs.
Infiltration monitoring —The University of Minnesota is partnering on a project (principal is Dr. John Nieber) monitoring three infiltration systems; it will wrap up in April. In our partnership with the Capitol Region Watershed District, we are extending sampling at Upper Villa Park through 2018
and adding another underground infiltration site (the Midway Stadium
redevelopment location). Both projects assess pollutant loading, transport, and
removal within and in the unsaturated zones beneath infiltration BMPs.
Stormwater contaminants of emerging concern and bioeffects —
MPCA and several partners are investigating contaminant of emerging concern in metro area stormwater
conveyances and iron-enhanced sand filters. We also measured changes to aquatic
organisms’ behavior, mortality, reproduction, and RNA transcription due to
exposure to treated and untreated stormwater. Of more than 400 commercial/industrial/residential
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and breakdown products tested,
approximately 130 were detected in at least one stormwater sample (although
often at low concentration).The report
will provide comparative context for the detections, compare the biological and
chemical outcomes to assess the impact of observed contaminants, and assess the
effectiveness of full-scale iron-enhanced sand filters at mitigating these
impacts.
Daphnia ecotoxicogenomics method development and calibration — Researchers
are investigating the utility of a daphnia-based transcriptomics tool as part
of MPCA's water quality monitoring efforts. The test matrices are stormwater
and wetland samples. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) extracted from exposed daphnids
were sequenced to generate a full “transcriptosome” for each treatment group.
Transcriptosomes can then be compared to determine the number and function of
differentially expressed genes between various groups and controls. Paired with
chemical and biological outcome data, transcriptomics has the potential to
pinpoint chemical “causes” and the molecular mechanisms of observed
whole-organism toxicity. Characterizing these “adverse outcome pathways” is
crucial to understanding sources and optimal mitigation strategies of aquatic
impairments, which commonly occur in complex systems that may be very difficult
to sort out.
Infiltration in roadside swales: Long-term field testing — In 2016,MPCA partnered with the Minnesota
Department of Transportation to test a water balance-based field
method to assess swale infiltration performance in natural conditions. In 2017,
we plan to implement this study design at four or five additional swale sites.
Monitoring is planned through 2017-2018. Monitored and modeled data will be
used to develop refined swale water budgets, to calibrate swale models, and to
compare results with commonly available models and calculators, including the
recently developed Minnesota Dry Swale Calculator (UMN/MNDOT) and the Minimal
Impact Design Standards Calculator.
Stormwater research priorities and pond maintenance — This project
is being conducted by the University of Minnesota and University of
Minnesota Extension, with the MPCA Stormwater Program serving
as the state's technical liaison.This project will address high-priority issues
related to stormwater pond performance and maintenance, including phosphorus
dynamics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons distribution and
bioavailability. This project will also produce a 10-year framework
of stormwater research needs, and provide for education and training to
disseminate the results.
MPCA stormwater staff and consultants recently hosted three
webinars on new content in the Stormwater Manual.
Infiltration practices (Dec. 15), presented by Mike Trojan and Anne Gelbmann (MPCA) and Greg Wilson (Barr Engineering) -- covered infiltration basins, infiltrations trenches,
underground infiltration and dry wells, and understanding and
interpreting soils and soil boring reports
Stormwater harvest and use/reuse (Jan. 25), presented by Mike Trojan and Anne Gelbmann and Meghan Funke and Brett Emmons (EOR) -- covered design elements, construction sequencing, and operation and maintenance of
harvest and use/reuse systems
Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) calculator updates (March 15), presented byMike Trojan -- showed recent
updates to the calculator which included example applications and a tour of the
supporting information in the Stormwater Manual.The webinar also focused on using the new
underground infiltration, harvest, impervious surface disconnection BMPs.
The webinars were recorded and available for viewing on the Stormwater Manual webinars page. Thanks to all who attended the webinars and completed the
survey.We received many great ideas and plan to use them to improve future webinars.Watch the Events page
in the Stormwater Manual or sign up for GovDelivery messages.
Funding webinar -- A recording of the annual funding workshop/webinar is also available for you to view, and the PowerPoint presentations are on the funding page.Sources of stormwater-project funding include:
Clean
Water Fund (Projects and Practices and Accelerated Implementation)
Clean
Water Partnership loans and 319 grants
State
Revolving Fund, Point Source Implementation grants
The MPCA is getting closer to having a
final draft construction stormwater general permit ready for public comment. We'ill be soliciting
input prior to the official public comment period on selected pieces of the
draft permit, using the Stormwater Manual as a
forum for collecting comments. Opportunities for comment will be publicized in this newsletter, other email
messages, and on the construction stormwater web pages.
The Middle St. Croix Watershed Management Organization
recently published a report on the work they have been doing with communities
to protect stormwater runoff from entering the St. Croix River."St. Croix Communities Clean Water
Project:Integrating Minimal Impact
Design Standards into Local Ordinances" is now available on the Middle
St. Croix Watershed Management Organization's web site. Eight communities updated their
ordinances to include MIDS:Bayport,
Baytown Township, Lake St. Croix Beach, Lakeland Shores, Oak Park Heights, St.
Mary’s Point, and West Lakeland Township.Four additional communities participated in the project but have not yet
updated their ordinances:Afton, Forest
Lake, Stillwater, and Washington County.