United States
Environmental Protection
Agency New England
Environmental News in New England for Municipal Leaders
Summer 2008
Emerald Cities
Building green and sustainable living
has taken off in recent years and 2008
is proving to be no exception. The real-
ization is setting in: our environment is
not a separate time and place; we can't
escape it by entering our homes and
shutting the doors. All of our actions,
down to the food we eat and electricity
we use have an impact on our natural
environment. In turn the air we breathe,
the soil which supports the growth of
our food and fresh water all contribute
to supporting human health.
It's necessary that people real-
ize that our actions can turn these life
necessities into harmful constituents;
the water, air and soil that support our
survival is only as healthy and clean
as we keep it. Perhaps paralleled with
current economic stress, this realiza-
tion that our environment is all around
us and needs our support is spreading.
Reusable totes becoming part of everyday life—beyond the grocery store.
More and more people are looking to live
'greener' by changing their commuter
habits, maybe remembering that reusable
shopping bag and even desiring to rent or
own a home that is more energy efficient,
built more sustainably and in a more ac-
commodating location—perhaps clos-
er to public transportation. This shift
in living style can not only improve
one's quality of life, but it can be more
affordable in the long run.
continued on page 5
Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs)
The last thing vacationers want is high
bacteria levels interrupting their sum-
mer swim plans or clambakes. It's
the tough truth however, that Sanitary
Sewer Overflows (SSOs) are still a big
problem throughout the United States
and even here in New England. SSO's
are the overflow, release, or spill of
raw or partially treated sewage from
a system before it reaches a treat-
ment plant. The release of this sew-
age contaminates water, including that
which we drink and bodies of water
we use for recreation inland or along
our beautiful shorelines. Exposure to
bacterial contamination can spark vi-
ruses and pathogens which can cause
serious illness. Unfortunately, waste-
water treatment facilities across our
region are quite outdated and very ex-
pensive to maintain and update. They
need to become a priority for munici-
palities, states and the federal govern-
ment to address. SSOs can result from
blockages caused by roots, grease,
continued on page 2
NSIDE
Go GREEN with LEED
New Storm water Permits
Young Artists in New England
How Clean is Your Beach?
Wastewater Treatment Facilities
Red Sox Go Green
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How to Go Green with LEED Neighborhood Development
Leadership in Energy and Environ-
mental Design for Neighborhood De-
velopment (LEED-ND) is officially the
first national system for neighborhood
design and focuses on environmentally
responsible, sustainable development
for entire communities. The initial pilot
projects are actually spread worldwide,
with 238 registered projects underway
in 41 countries including the United
States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and In-
dia. An exceptional number are located
in the United States. This program in-
tends to create, or improve, entire com-
munities by integrating principles of
urbanism, smart location and green plan-
ning and design.
Communities seeking LEED-ND
certification must meet certain guide-
lines and follow an established but flex-
ible checklist. Certified neighborhoods
must successfully address or provide cri-
teria such as greater walkablility, smart
location and opportunity for alternate
transportation, increased parks and green
space, close proximity to schools, mixed-
use development, green building mate-
rials, abundance of trees, smart roadway
designs to decrease car emissions among
many others. For some time now, there
has been great focus on energy efficient
buildings; LEED-ND addresses the gap
in our efforts towards sustainability
when we drive our cars from suburbia to
our solar powered offices. Developers
are already experiencing higher demand
for environmentally friendly building
and a great shift in demand has begun
for more eco-friendly living.
(cont.) SSOs
debris from storm drains and struc-
tural, mechanical and electrical fail-
ures. The likelihood of an overflow
is heightened during rainfall when
stormwater runoff is added to nor-
mal wastewater and overburdens the
treatment system to the point that the
plant operators have to let untreated
wastewater go. That raw sewage is
what causes beach closures in subse-
quent days.
The EPA has many enforcement
and assessment strategies to elimi-
nate overflows by encouraging and
forcing when necessary, munici-
pal sewer systems to come into full
compliance. These policies have
eliminated millions of gallons of raw
sewage from plaguing communities.
Problems still remain however and
it's an issue at the forefront of envi-
ronmental concern. In the event of an
SSO, health warnings are sent to the
community members.
Prevention of SSOs is necessary
to protect public health and enhance
the quality of life for communities.
Cleaner water will significantly de-
crease the number of viruses, bac-
teria, and parasites which appear in
high numbers following an SSO.
This is especially important to the
elderly and children who common-
ly have more suppressed immune
systems and are more likely to suffer.
Two overflowing manholes flooding a street and parking lot in Rhode Island with
contaminated water.
Prevention of SSOs is
necessary to protect
public health and
enhance the quality of
life for communities.
To find out more about SSOs and
how to protect your communities please
visit: www.epa.gov/region 1/topics/wa-
ter/wwater.html
Prommote SSO knowledge in your
community-promote water
conservation when it rains!
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Small Muni. Separate Storm Sewer System General Permits
EPA's 2003 small MS4 general per-
mits expired on May 1, 2008. Munici-
palities covered under the 2003 permit
will remain covered until EPA issues
a new general permit applicable to the
particular municipality. Municipalities
must continue to implement the Storm
Water Management Program (SWMP)
required by the 2003 general permit.
After considering public comments,
EPA anticipates that the final permits
will be available in or around December
2008. Municipalities will be required to
submit a new Notice of Intent (NOI). It is
anticipated that the period after the effec-
tive date of the permit to submit an NOI
will be 90 days.
The new small MS4 general permits
will include the same six minimum con-
trol measures as the 2003 MS4 general
permit as well as additional provisions
to ensure water quality standards are
achieved. Changes are anticipated in water management programs of each
the new MS4 general permit that will MS4 permittee in order to reduce the
increase the effectiveness of storm- adverse effects of storm water runoff.
It is anticipated that changes will include:
• An enhanced illicit detection discharge and elimination
(IDDE) program with specific requirements to identify,
isolate and remove illicit connections, thereby removing
sanitary and other waste from the stormwater system,
• Monitoring of stormwater,
• An enhanced construction site stormwater runoff control
program,
• Provisions that encourage the use of low impact design
and green infrastructure techniques,
• Requirements derived from approved total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs) to achieve specific water quality
standards.
New England's Youngest Earth Artists Celebrated!
Throughout this past May and June,
EPA New England hosted four ceremo-
nies, honoring over 1,000 young stu-
dents ranging from Kindergarten to
6th Grade who competed in this year's
Earth Artists poster and poetry contest.
Representatives of EPA's regional of-
fice in New England presented certifi-
cates to students from five schools in
New Hampshire, eight in Rhode Island,
fifteen schools across the state of Con-
necticut and an incredible twenty-two
schools in Massachusetts. Individuals
and classes were recognized for their in-
spiring efforts and creative artwork that
celebrated the earth and promoted ways
to protect our planet.
EPA New England was also excited
to host some special guest appearances;
including the infamous Garbage Grem-
lin (EPA activity book character) who
attempted to persuade the youngsters
not to recycle as trash provides him
with a comfortable and smelly home.
Despite his best efforts, even the young-
est participants proved they would not
be swayed into believing that was a
good idea! At the end of each ceremo-
ny, the Gremlin became inspired by the
wonderful artwork put together by the
students and vows to now spread the
message about how important it is to
recycle.
Massachusetts recipients also got
a special visit from Wally, the great
Green Monster of the Boston Red
Sox. This past Earth Day a partner-
ship began when the Red Sox in con-
junction with the Natural Resources
Defense Council, were presented
with an EPA Environmental Merit
Award. (See back cover to learn
how the home of the Green Monster
is going greener!). Wally stopped
by to hand out awards and pose for
photos with the next generation of
planet protectors.
(Mrs. Fisher and Ms. Conway's class poster at the Little Red Hen Preschool in East
Greenwich, RI) Look for the 2009 contest brochure coming this fall!
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Safe Swimming: How Clean is Your Beach?
2008 Coastal No Discharge
Areas in New England
Legend
^^H No Discharge Area
It is difficult to imagine what New
England would be like without fish-
ing, swimming, and boating which are
all valuable to us. Unfortunately, ev-
eryone must still pay attention to bac-
teria levels before entering the water
and consuming fish. Sanitary Sewer
Overflows (SSOs), or Combined Sew-
er Overflows, (CSOs) from inadequate
municipal treatment plants still release
raw sewage into our beautiful water-
ways, severely decreasing water qual-
ity and preventing the carefree enjoy-
ment from swimming and fishing. This
bacterial contamination is just one of
many serious environmental issues af-
fecting the quality of our waterways.
Regular stormwater discharge, runoff
and pollution coming from onshore
sources as well as boats can also affect
the health of our coasts.
Since 2001 New England coastal
communities have been benefiting
from EPA's "It's a Shore Thing" cam-
paign. The number of coastal beaches
with water quality monitoring has al-
most doubled to 800 beaches. Every
year EPA New England provides state
grants to improve and increase the
sampling efforts along New England's
coastline. This monitoring is first step
towards discovering:
Is bacterial contamination present?
Does it get worse when it rains? Why?
Where could it be coming from?
Enhanced efforts help to ensure that
the public stays out of the water when
it's not safe. EPA is working closely
with state environmental and public
health agencies to develop and imple-
ment this campaign under it's new
Beach Initiative to reduce the pollution
levels that cause beach closures in New
England.
Efforts are also progressing to reduce
the flow of sewage from boating to coast-
lines. Last summer Connecticut made it
illegal to discharge untreated sewage
from boats along its entire shoreline and
work is being done to implement simi-
lar regulation in northern Maine, north
of its first No Discharge Area in Casco
Bay. Recent successes include the No
Discharge Areas of Boston Harbor and
Cape Cod Bay. The cleanliness of the
water we use for boating, swimming,
and fishing is just as vital to our health
as is the quality of the water we drink.
To find out about no discharge zones
and beaches in your area please visit:
www.epa.gov/regionl/topics/water/on-
thewater.html
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Recognizing New England's High Performing Wastewater
Treatment Facilities
Every year, the EPA takes time to recog-
nize facilities within various towns and
cities which have displayed outstanding
and innovative achievements in treat-
ment of wastewater and pollution abate-
ment. The Operations and Maintenance
(O&M) Awards are granted throughout
New England in several categories. This
award program is intended to increase
public awareness of contributions to fa-
cilities, projects and programs that make
our waste water clean once again.
The 'Most Improved' category rec-
ognizes exceptional efforts by treatment
plant personnel and local officials to get
a facility back into compliance under a
technology assistance program. More
often than not, and particularly with the
smaller facilities, conscientious opera-
tors and staff continue to perform excep-
tionally well with limited resources.
Last January EPA New England Re-
gional O&M Excellence Awards were
received by 11 publicly owned waste-
water treatment plants for their commit-
ment to improving water quality.
,
The professionals operating these
wastewater treatment plants, as well as the municipalities and the state envi-
ronmental agencies that support them, are vital to keeping our environment
healthy. I am proud to give them the credit they deserve.
—Robert W. Varney, Regional Administrator
2007 Award Recipients
• Bristol, New Hampshire
• Fall River, Massachusetts
• New England Interstate Water Pollution Control
Commission (NEIWPCC)
• Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation (VTDEC) (Paul Olander)
• Pepperell, Massachusetts
• South Burlington, Vermont - Bartletts Bay Facility
• South Kingstown, Rhode Island
• Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
(Thomas Bienkiewicz)
• New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
(Thomas White)
• Warren, Rhode Island
• Windsor Locks, Connecticut
(cont.) Emerald Cities
As global environmental issues con-
tinue to garner greater attention, they
also shed light on how individuals can
act and live in a more sustainable manner
and improve their environment closer to
home. Municipalities may already be
familiar with Smart Growth and LEED
certification for buildings, now in addi-
tion EPA and the U.S. Green Building
Council have expanded the LEED pro-
gram to certify entire neighborhoods and
communities. While this effort is only in
the pilot phase, EPA encourages that mu-
nicipalities look towards the developing
criteria and watch the progress to stay
ahead of the curve and perhaps apply
these concepts to their own communi-
ties. LEED certified neighborhoods are
the new emerald cities; safer, 'greener'
and healthier places to live.
The re-creation of an entire neigh-
borhood is a rare project; working well
for areas following a natural disaster or
in areas of large space and high rede-
velopment potential such as decommis-
sioned military bases. For existing and
thriving neighborhoods that could ben-
efit from becoming greener, Look into
EPA's web toolkit and planning guide
called 'Green Communities', designed
to improve sustainability. With a strong
focus on ways a community can become
Ask your community these
questions:
1 .Where are we now?
2.Where do we want to be?
3.How do we get there?
4.Let's go!
more energy efficient; it promotes a five
step model for assessment and implemen-
tation, offering communities a planning
approach for building green.
Building green is an investment,
but it has proven to provide long last-
ing economic and social benefits. Green
communities can become healthier and
more diverse, not to mention provide
more economic opportunity. This green
program provides technical assistance
as well as various funding and grants.
While more people each day are begin-
ning to be more healthy and eco-friendly,
the Green Communities guide allows in-
dividuals to move above and beyond this
act alone, joining others to truly live in a
better place. To learn more about building
green communities and funding please
visitwww.epa.gov/greenkit/index.htm
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Red Sox Recycling Champs
The Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) has teamed up
with Major League Baseball and
EPA New England's hometown
Boston Red Sox to address the sig-
nificant environmental issues as-
sociated with bringing hundreds of
thousands of fans together at Fen-
way park each season. NRDC de-
veloped a "Greening Advisor" for
Major League Baseball to apply at
stadiums across the country. Tap-
ping into their expertise and advice,
the Red Sox have initiated a major,
5-year effort to make Fenway Park
one of the greenest destinations in
baseball. With NRDC's help, the
Red Sox organization is aiming
to recycle plastic drink containers
used in the park and reduce green-
house gas emissions by 20 percent.
The Red Sox have enlisted lo-
cal university students to make up
"Green Teams" who will be present
at every game at Fenway to roam the
stands and help fans recycle their plas-
tic cups and bottles. The Red Sox have
also enlisted the talents of their greatest
resource—their World Series Champi-
onship team—to encourage fans to do
their part by recycling at the ball park
and at home. Other projects under-
way include installing solar panels to
help heat hot water and installing en-
ergy-efficient LED lighting displays in
the park, which use just one-tenth the
power of equivalent, traditional light-
ing displays. While many teams are go-
ing green as they build new stadiums,
the Red Sox organization has made a
challenging commitment: to transform
the 96 year old historic ballpark into
a modern, green, environmentally-
friendly place. GO SOX!!
EPA New England Local
Government Office
EPA New England
1 Congress Street
Suite 1 1 00
Boston, MA 02 11 4-2023
phone (61 7) 91 8-1 021
fax (6 17) 918-0021
Editor
Jeanethe Falvey
falvey.jeanethe@epa.gov
EPA Contributors
Doug Gutro, Kelsey O'Neil,
Laura Poirier& David Webster
www.epa.gov/regionl
EPA-901-R-07-006
Summer 2008
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Environmental Protection
Agency New England
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For an A to Z list of activities and kid friendly information for a rainy day this summer check out:
[ www.epa.gov/kids/atozindex.htm ]
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