1. Public Education and Outreach
Public education and outreach involves using effective mechanisms and programs, guided by a detailed outreach strategy, to engage the public’s interest in preventing stormwater pollution. A key factor to consider when developing a strategy is that the public has varying levels of background knowledge of both stormwater management and their role in reducing stormwater pollution. Hence you should take a multi-pronged approach to outreach efforts by (1) generating basic awareness of stormwater pollution, (2) educating at a more sophisticated level using more substantive content, and (3) building on existing recognition of the issue to prompt behavior changes that reduce pollution (or the opportunities for pollution).
2. Public Involvement and Participation
Marshall University working alone cannot be as effective in reducing stormwater pollution as if it has the participation, partnership, and combined efforts of other groups on campus all working towards the same goal. The point of public involvement is to build on community capital—the wealth of interested students, faculty, and staff—to help spread the message on preventing stormwater pollution, to undertake group activities that highlight storm drain pollution, and contribute volunteer community actions to restore and protect the local water resources.
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
Stormwater regulations define an “illicit discharge” as “any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is not composed entirely of stormwater” (except discharges resulting from fire fighting activities and a few other categories). Common sources of non-stormwater, dry weather discharges in urban areas include apartments and homes, car washes, restaurants, airports, landfills, and gas stations, to name but a few. These so called “generating sites” discharge sanitary wastewater, septic system effluent, vehicle wash water, washdown from grease traps, motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline and fuel spills, among other substances. Although these illicit discharges can enter the storm drain system in various ways, they generally result from either direct connections (e.g., wastewater piping either mistakenly or deliberately connected to the storm drains) or indirect connections (e.g., infiltration into the storm drain system, spills, or “midnight dumping”). Illicit discharges can be further divided into those discharging continuously and those discharging intermittently.
4. Construction Site Run-off Control
Stormwater runoff from construction sites can have a significant impact on water quality. Runoff, resulting from rainfall or snow melt, flows over construction sites picking up sediment and other pollutants such as building materials, concrete washout, paint, fuel, wastewater, oil and solvents. The contaminated runoff then enters the stormwater system and potentially discharged into local creek and rivers. Marshall University’s goal to is reasonably prevent pollutants from entering the storm sewer system.
5. Controlling Run-off from New Development and Redevelopment
Considering water quality impacts early in the design process
can provide long-term water quality benefits. For example, a project designed
with reduced impervious surfaces and increased use of biofiltration practices
will result in significant reductions in stormwater runoff volume from the
site. New development projects on undeveloped land offer many opportunities to
reduce stormwater runoff from the site. Redevelopment projects, which replace
an existing development and are typically in more urban areas, usually have
less land area available for stormwater controls. Marshall is committed in
evaluating all possibilities of reducing stormwater pollutants in new
developments and redevelopments as seen in their Stormwater Management Program
(SWMP).
6. Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping
Marshall is required to train staff on ways to protect stormwater, particularly when maintaining MS4 infrastructure and performing daily activities, such as fleet and building
maintenance, new construction and land disturbances, and stormwater system
maintenance. This primarily includes:
- Developing inspection and maintenance procedures and schedules for stormwater BMPs,
- Implementing BMPs to treat pollutants from maintenance areas, chemical storage areas, and salt storage areas, and
- Establishing procedures for properly disposing of pollutants removed from the MS4.