Annual Report 2013
New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission
Embracing an Evolving Suite of Challenges
Connecticut • Maine • Massachusetts • New Hampshire • New York • Rhode Island • Vermont Embracing an Evolving Suite of Challenges
mbracing challenges is something the New England Interstate We still do all those things. But there can be no question that, as Water Pollution Control Commission has been doing for a our 2011-2013 Chair Pete LaFlamme articulates on the next page, our Every long time. Established by an Act of Congress in 1947, region has entered a new era of water pollution control. It is an era NEIWPCC is a not-for-profit interstate organization that since our defined by new challenges such as climate change as well as familiar infancy has employed a variety of strategies to meet the water-related challenges that have evolved to present new demands, such as the need needs of our member states—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, to prepare wastewater operators to replace retiring plant managers. At New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. For decades, NEIWPCC, this new era provides new opportunities to serve and assist we have coordinated forums and events that encourage cooperation our member states. It is the goal of this annual report to capture how we among the states, developed resources that foster progress on water and are doing so. wastewater issues, represented the region in matters of federal policy, The report covers NEIWPCC’s accomplishments during fiscal year trained environmental professionals, initiated and overseen scientific 2013, which began on October 1, 2012, and ended on September 30, research, educated the public, and provided overall leadership in water 2013. Some activities that took place in fiscal 2014 are included to management and protection. complete descriptions of work performed in fiscal 2013.
Contents From the Chair...... 1 Officers/Commissioners...... 2 Leadership by Design...... 3 Challenges of Our Times ...... 11 Productive Relationships ...... 29 Direct Assistance ...... 36 Quality Management ...... 40 Financial Information...... 41 Tim Newcomb Tim From the Chair
March 2014 and will continue to require the implementation of new initiatives. And it all must be done in an environment of ever-tightening constraints on staffing and resources at all cross our region, throughout our states, levels of government. and within the offices of the New England Adapting to these changing needs requires an ongoing evolution of our practices AInterstate Water Pollution Control as we continually strive to maximize effectiveness in implementation through Commission, we share the common goal of universally carefully prioritizing our efforts across the region. As this annual report fully clean and safe waters, characterized by healthy aquatic demonstrates, NEIWPCC contributed significantly to progress in a great many ecosystems and the full support of uses. Over the areas over the past year. Given the breadth of the suite of new challenges, it is years, however, the principal challenges faced in obvious that the Commission’s work—guided by its member states and NEIWPCC accomplishing this goal have evolved dramatically. Commissioners—is crucial to our collective success. There is both a great need and a As a result, our planning and strategies are likewise great opportunity for regional cooperation and collaboration as we push forward into evolving. The focus of water resources management is undergoing a paradigm shift, these new frontiers of water pollution control. and at NEIWPCC and within its member states, we are embracing the change. We’ve certainly come a long way together, yet we still have a long way to go. As That this shift is occurring at all is a testament to our success. The federal Clean we in the states take these next steps, we do so in the same way as we have for many Water Act was conceived and implemented in an era that was necessarily focused decades—with NEIWPCC by our side. A very welcome constant amid the change. on controlling ‘traditional pollutants’ from point sources. Strategies targeted visible, tangible, and significant sources, such as municipal sewage and direct industrial discharges. The result: substantial reductions in the point source pollution that had so degraded our region’s lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and groundwater. While these traditional point sources will continue to be environmental stressors Pete LaFlamme that require ongoing control, a myriad of other potential threats have emerged NEIWPCC Chair 2011-2013 in recent years that demand our attention and an effective response. Urban, Director, Watershed Management Division agricultural, and other forms of contaminated stormwater runoff; the introduction of Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation invasive aquatic species; bioaccumulation of toxics; depletion of aquifers; pollutants of emerging concern such as those found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products; the effects of climate change—these threats and many more have required
Annual Report 2013 1 NEIWPCC 2013
NEIWPCC OFFICERS* Chair: Pete LaFlamme, Vermont Vice-Chair: Yvonne Bolton, Connecticut Treasurer: Richard Kotelly, Massachusetts
NEIWPCC COMMISSIONERS* Connecticut Massachusetts New York Daniel Esty, Commissioner, Kenneth Kimmell, Commissioner, Joseph Martens, Commissioner, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Department of Environmental Protection Department of Environmental Conservation Represented by Yvonne Bolton, Chief, Bureau of Represented by Bethany Card, Assistant Commissioner, Represented by Mark Klotz, Director, Division of Water Materials Management and Compliance Assurance; and Bureau of Resource Protection Nirav Shah, Commissioner, Department of Health Denise Ruzicka, Director, Water Planning and Standards Cheryl Bartlett, Commissioner, Represented by Roger Sokol, Director, Division Department of Public Health Bureau of Water Supply Protection Jewel Mullen, Commissioner, Represented by Michael Celona, Albert Bromberg, Schenectady Department of Public Health Bureau of Environmental Health Leo Hetling, Delmar Represented by Ellen Blaschinski, Branch Chief, Paul Hogan, Holden Regulatory Services John Sullivan, Dorchester Rhode Island Arnie Bevins, Vernon F. Adam Yanulis, Cambridge Janet Coit, Director, Astrid Hanzalek, Suffield Department of Environmental Management Mark Zessin, Glastonbury New Hampshire Represented by Alicia Good, Assistant Director, Thomas Burack, Commissioner, Office of Water Resources Maine Department of Environmental Services Michael Fine, Director, Department of Health Patricia Aho, Commissioner, Represented by Harry Stewart, Director, Water Division Represented by June Swallow, Chief, Department of Environmental Protection Thomas Ballestero, Madbury Office of Drinking Water Quality Represented by Michael Kuhns, Director, Fred McNeill, Manchester Donald Pryor, Providence Bureau of Land and Water Quality Nelson Thibault, Nottingham Mary Mayhew, Commissioner, Robert Varney, Bedford Vermont Department of Health and Human Services David Mears, Commissioner, Represented by Nancy Beardsley, Director, Department of Environmental Conservation Drinking Water Program Represented by Pete LaFlamme, Director, James Parker, Veazie Watershed Management Division David Van Slyke, Yarmouth Harry Chen, Commissioner, Department of Health James Ehlers, Colchester Eugene Forbes, Burlington Dennis Lutz, Essex Junction
*As of September 30, 2013. An up-to-date list of NEIWPCC’s Commissioners is available at www.neiwpcc.org/commissioners.asp. For details on Commissioners whose service ended in fiscal 2013 and those we welcomed to the team, see page 5.
2 The Act of Congress that established NEIWPCC in 1947 set the foundation. Each member state was to be represented by five Leadership By Design Commissioners, with the states given some discretion with their choices. But the writers of the compact made it clear that state officials representing he New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission environmental and health departments should be included, and that has in fiscal year 2013 was many things—an organization focused almost invariably been the case. For decades, virtually all states have been Ton pressing challenges, a partner with our states in sustaining represented by the heads of their environmental and health agencies, progress on multiple fronts, a collaborator with organizations pressing for supplemented by three highly experienced individuals from outside state positive and lasting change. But at our core, we were what we have always government. It’s a structure that makes NEIWPCC a truly regional body been—a commission. We aren’t a product, an address, a brand. We are, in made up of leaders of unquestionable integrity and influence. And it’s all essence, the men and women on the opposite page. It’s been that way since due to the wisdom of those who conceived of NEIWPCC nearly 70 years NEIWPCC’s founding and it will remain that way. Because it works. ago. To put it simply, they got it right.
on our list (ascension to chair is done in a predetermined order so each state has equal Constructive opportunity). LaFlamme’s tenure, however, began a year early as he filled out the term of our previous chair. For NEIWPCC, the additional year yielded a direct benefit: more Communication meetings guided by LaFlamme’s steady hand. Given the many complicated issues on the meeting agendas, that steady hand has served everyone well. he 1947 compact requires the Commission to meet at least twice during Early in the fiscal year, the meetings provided the ideal vehicle for pivotal a year, but we have long routinely exceeded that minimum. In fiscal discussions of how the states were coping with water-related challenges related to T2013, NEIWPCC’s full slate of Commissioners met over two days on Hurricane Sandy, which in late October 2012 triggered a seawater surge that devastated three occasions—January 10-11, 2013, in Portland, Maine; May 16-17, 2013, in our states’ coastlines. The Commissioners provided crucial guidance as NEIWPCC Westminster, Massachusetts; and September 26-27, 2013, in Killington, Vermont. staff developed a workshop for our states and EPA to discuss lessons learned on As has been the case for many years, each gathering began with a morning meeting storm response (see page 12). And as always in recent years, budget issues were at of NEIWPCC’s Executive Committee, which also met separately on December 6, the forefront—perhaps more so than ever—as the states shared their experiences in 2012, and March 14, 2013, at NEIWPCC headquarters struggling with the automatic federal spending cuts in Lowell, Massachusetts. Our Executive Committee known as sequestration. Such instability in financial brings together a select group of our Commissioners— support is exactly what the states don’t need, given the the leaders of our states’ environmental agencies, who high costs associated with ensuring clean and safe water. typically send a representative to attend on their behalf. Many meetings also featured guest speakers. Of It’s a prudent move; the representatives tend to hold particular significance: Tom Uva of the Narragansett Bay high-level state jobs focused on water matters, making Commission, who spoke at our May meeting about The them well-versed in the issues on our table. Water Resources Utility of the Future: A Blueprint for Action, In fact, the man presiding over the meetings in fiscal a document developed by the National Association of 2013 was one of those representatives—Pete LaFlamme, Clean Water Agencies, Water Environment Research director of the Vermont Department of Environmental Foundation, and Water Environment Federation. A Conservation’s Watershed Management Division. member of the project’s task force, Uva described the LaFlamme represents David Mears, Vermont DEC’s urgent need for wastewater treatment facilities to move commissioner, and fiscal 2013 marked his third year as beyond what they have always done so successfully— our chair. Typically a chair serves for two years before NEIWPCC Chair Pete LaFlamme oversees the discussion at collecting wastewater, moving it quickly downstream, the baton is passed to a representative from the next state our March 2013 Executive Committee meeting. treating it to acceptable standards, and disposing of waste
Annual Report 2013 3 staff, replete with tasks large and small that have been identified in the course of the meeting’s discussions. While our Commissioners are not entirely responsible for driving NEIWPCC’s agenda—ideas for projects often originate with NEIWPCC staff or the members of the many workgroups we coordinate—the Commissioners are an indispensable source of guidance and influence. In an era of evolving challenges, our region and our states all benefit from a template for leadership that brings together some of the finest minds working on water issues. It’s one tradition that will never change.
Outside Influences
NEIWPCC Deputy Director Susan Sullivan has our Commissioners’ attention as she speaks hile state agencies were certainly well represented on NEIWPCC’s list of during the September 2013 meeting in Killington, Vermont. Commissioners in 2013, the list also included, as it does every year, many WCommissioners from outside state government. We call these women without harming the environment—to a future of managing resources to generate and men our non-agency Commissioners, and their experience, which is often in value for the utility and its customers, improving environmental quality at the least cost the private sector, brings important perspectives to our table. Through the vigorous to the community, and contributing to the local economy. The talk only underscored participation of practicing professionals actively engaged in their fields, we are far that we are on the right path. Many of the prescribed action steps in the blueprint— biosolids reuse, energy efficiency and recovery, and green infrastructure, to name a few—have been a focus at NEIWPCC and within our states for a very long time. NEWEA The meetings gave the Commissioners the ideal opportunity to provide their perspectives on issues and to present their ideas on how NEIWPCC could assist the states in addressing challenges. After each meeting, a to-do list is generated for our
During the May 2013 Commission meeting, Ken Moraff, director of EPA Region 1’s Office of NEIWPCC Commissioner John Sullivan (left), chief engineer at the Boston Water and Sewer Ecosystem Protection, discusses the agency’s Hurricane Summit and Emergency Management Commission, with U.S. Representative Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) and New England Assistance Compact Workshop in Boston, which NEIWPCC staff attended. Top EPA officials Water Environment Association Executive Director Elizabeth Cutone at NEWEA’s 2013 participate in meetings with our Commissioners, providing our member states with an Congressional Breakfast and Briefing on Clean Water Issues in Washington (more on invaluable opportunity to communicate directly with the agency on its plans and perspectives. NEIWPCC’s role with this event on page 7).
4 more effective in identifying, analyzing, and meeting our states’ water-related needs. They have the hands-on knowledge and in-depth understanding of specific areas Roster Moves that make them superb resources for staff seeking input and feedback on complex ince the governors of NEIWPCC’s member states appoint our Commission- projects, such as technical reports and guidance documents. ers, some turnover is inevitable as administrations change. Veteran Commis- As the photographs in this section attest, NEIWPCC’s non-agency Commissioners Ssioners also periodically relinquish their posts as they retire. In fiscal 2013, are connected individuals adept at forging strong working relationships. During the we bid farewell to three longtime non-agency Commissioners—Terry Campbell Commission meetings in 2013, they delivered some of the more memorable and (Maine), William Taylor (Maine), and Salvatore Pagano (New York). Among our important presentations. At the September meeting, for example, Massachusetts’s state agency Commissioners, departing were John Auerbach (Massachusetts) and Paul Hogan (Woodard and Curran) and New Hampshire’s Fred McNeil (City of his representative, Beverly Anderson, as well as Craig Jackson, representative of Manchester) joined NEIWPCC Director of Water Quality Programs Susy King to Nirav Shah (New York). Thank you all for your many contributions. highlight key points in the dispute over EPA limits on aluminum levels in wastewater We said welcome aboard to two new non-agency Commissioners treatment plant effluent. As described on page 14, those limits aren’t sitting well with representing Maine. James Parker spent four decades as an environmental cities whose plants discharge to waters that naturally contain aluminum levels higher engineer and founded Civil Engineering Services, an environmental consulting than the imposed restrictions. company. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2011 to 2012. Many of our non-agency Commissioners have been with us a long time— David Van Slyke is an environmental lawyer at Preti Flaherty, one of Maine’s Connecticut’s Astrid Hanzalek, for example, since 1993—but regardless of their largest law firms. He chairs Preti Flaherty’s Environmental Practice Group and length of service, we salute them all for their contributions. Their support and co-chairs the Climate Strategy Group. We also welcomed Michael Celona as the guidance is vital to NEIWPCC’s efforts to help our member states implement effective new representative of Cheryl Bartlett (Massachusetts). water resource protection and management programs. On a related note, the year saw the debut of our new way of spotlighting our Commissioners on NEIWPCC’s website. The traditional list, with only names and titles, has been replaced by a series of pages, organized by state, containing NEWEA photos and short bios. Seen below is a portion of the Massachusetts page. Get the details on every NEIWPCC Commissioner from every state at www. neiwpcc.org/commissioners.asp.
Two NEIWPCC Commissioners, James Ehlers (left) and Nelson Thibault, confer during the New England Water Environment Association’s 2013 Spring Meeting in Brewster, Massa- chusetts. Ehlers, who represents Vermont on the Commission, is CEO of Lake Champlain International, a nonprofit organization that aims to restore and revitalize Lake Champlain and its communities. Thibault, one of our New Hampshire Commissioners, is chief officer for all municipal clients at Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, a consulting engineering company.
Annual Report 2013 5 marked by an unwavering commitment to understanding the needs of NEIWPCC’s
NEWEA member states, acting upon those needs through staff programs and projects, and representing the needs at all levels, including in Washington. That commitment was clearly on display in fiscal 2013 as Ron engaged in a wide range of work, some of it designed to help our states get the help they need with one particularly pressing challenge—aging infrastructure. In its 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers said capital investment needs for the nation’s wastewater and stormwater systems are estimated to total $298 billion over the next 20 years. The need in New York State alone is $56.7 billion, indicative of the fact that this problem is acute in the Northeast, where our historic cities rely on water-related infrastructure that in some cases is more than a century old. On April 16, 2013, Ron was among a select group invited to the White House for the National Water Infrastructure Summit, which brought together leaders in local and state government and the private sector to share perspectives on the economic need for resilient water infrastructure systems. Ron and the other participants discussed alternative financing mechanisms, including new means to entice the NEIWPCC Commissioner and City of Manchester (N.H.) Environmental Protection Division private sector to invest in public sector projects. The summit fostered a productive Chief Engineer Fred McNeill welcomes a group touring Manchester’s incinerator upgrades as discussion of multiple options, and in the months that followed, the dialogue part of the North East Biosolids and Residuals Conference in Concord, New Hampshire. only increased. Working with the Association of Clean Water Administrators, Ron took a leadership role in raising awareness of the pros and cons of creating a
Benefitting from Experience NEWEA
ithin Article IV of our founding compact is this: “[NEIWPCC] may appoint and employ a secretary… and may employ such stenographic and clerical Wemployees as shall be necessary…” The thought was the Commission would need a staff to do its daily work. True indeed, and as the scope and complexity of the needs in our member states have grown, so too have the size of NEIWPCC’s staff and the breadth of the work accomplished. An appointed leader, however, still oversees it all—though the title is no longer secretary but rather executive director. And in November of 2013, Ronald Poltak marked his thirtieth year in the post. As executive director, Ron’s tenure has been
NEIWPCC Executive Director Ron Poltak speaks on the need to address climate change and build Before the start of the New England Water Environment Association’s 2013 Congressional resilience to extreme weather. Ron accepted Breakfast and Briefing on Clean Water Issues in Washington, Ron speaks with Curt Spalding invitations to speak on the issue from numerous (left), administrator for EPA Region 1 (New England), and NEIWPCC Commissioner institutions, including the University of New Harry Stewart, director of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services’ Hampshire and University of Southern Maine. Water Division.
6 NEIWPCC Deputy
NEWEA Director Susan Sullivan delivers a presentation at the New England Water Environment Association’s 2013 Spring Meeting. Among those listening intently is NEIWPCC’s Tom Groves (center). Both have served in numerous leadership positions at NEWEA throughout their careers. NEWEA
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority or WIFIA, which would knows what the other is thinking. provide a new way of making low-interest federal loans available for large water The value of making such connections has been emphasized at NEIWPCC since and wastewater infrastructure projects. At a meeting of NEIWPCC’s Executive the very beginning. Our staff play active, prominent roles in such organizations as Committee, Ron provided an update on the initiative, which, as this annual report the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, Water Environment Federation, went to press, remains an intriguing possibility. The Water Resources Development Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials, National Act of 2013, which includes a well-funded WIFIA pilot program, has passed in both Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, Environmental Council of the States, houses of Congress but is mired in a conference committee established to resolve and many more. Deputy Director Sullivan, who joined NEIWPCC in 1989, has discrepancies between the House and Senate versions of the bill. been particularly influential, serving over the years in multiple leadership roles, This engagement in efforts that can and often do result in tangible benefits to including her present service on the board of directors of the Interstate Council on our member states has always defined Ron’s activity. Some of the work may not Water Policy. In 2013, Susan concluded a successful three-year term as chair of the reap immediate rewards; his participation, for example, in a June 2013 two-day Government Affairs Committee of the New England Water Environment Association, summit in Vermont aimed at creating initiatives for greater public involvement in during which she, among other things, coordinated an annual series of legislative the stewardship of Lake Champlain helped set the groundwork for important work breakfasts in the New England states that brought together state lawmakers and key to come. With other work, however, the impact is readily apparent. At a meeting members of the water and wastewater communities. Susan also played a pivotal with senior officials at EPA Region 1 (New England), Ron and NEIWPCC Deputy role in putting together NEWEA’s Congressional Briefing on March 20, 2013, in Director Susan Sullivan shared a list of water priorities agreed upon during the Washington, which gathered high-ranking officials such as U.S. Representative year by the heads of the state environmental agencies in the region. The states’ Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) to discuss New England’s needs in the water arena. priorities, which include addressing nutrient pollution, improving resilience to Whether it’s through the many programs and projects described in this report, flooding, working together regionally to avoid duplication of efforts, and pursuing through meetings that open crucial lines of communication, or through working innovations in revenue generation and cost management, are priorities shared in collaboratively with likeminded organizations, NEIWPCC is generating outcomes many cases by EPA. But to increase the chances of success, it’s vital that each side that contribute to progress on the path to cleaner water everywhere.
Annual Report 2013 7 well as work on Massachusetts waste- Division of Labor water and Title 5 training and certification, residuals, collection systems, permitting tructurally, NEIWPCC’s staff is aligned to enable effective and efficient service (NPDES), onsite wastewater systems, phar- to our states. The majority of our work falls within three main divisions: Water maceuticals and personal care products, and SQuality Programs, Wastewater and Onsite Programs, and Water Resource underground storage tanks. The division Protection Programs. also includes our staff at the New York De- Water Quality Programs, which is overseen by Susy King, includes work related partment of Environmental Conservation’s to water quality standards, nutrient criteria, total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), Division of Water and our independent mercury, wetlands, monitoring, and harmful algal blooms. Also under the water environmental monitors in New York City. quality umbrella: our hosting of the Interstate Environmental Commission District Water Resource Protection Programs, and Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and the work of our staff at the Rhode Island overseen by Michael Jennings, includes Department of Environmental Management, Long Island Sound Study, New York- our efforts related to climate change, New Jersey Harbor and Estuary Program, and Peconic Estuary Program. turf fertilizer, nonpoint source pollution, Wastewater and Onsite Programs, overseen by Tom Groves, includes our regional stormwater, and groundwater and source training program and Maine’s Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee as water protection. Additional responsibil- ities include our relationships with the Lake Champlain Basin Program, Hudson River Estuary Program, and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Susy King, Director of Water Quality division also includes our staff at the Maine Programs Department of Health and Human Services’ Drinking Water Program and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Watershed Management.
To share the expertise we have in-house, NEIWPCC’s Human Resources team initiated a series of staff-led and staff-oriented training sessions that covered everything from building and managing budgets to email etiquette. Here, NEIWPCC staff, including Bill Howland of the Lake Champlain Basin Program (foreground), listen to a January 2013 presentation on Tom Groves, Director of Wastewater and Michael Jennings, Director of Water Resource best practices for effective grant administration. Onsite Programs Protection Programs
8 Recognition of Success Service Statements he work we do at NEIWPCC is never done with the intention of winning n February 2013, NEIWPCC and our sister interstate agencies—the awards, but we cannot deny the satisfaction of periodically being recognized Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management and Northeast Tfor a job well done. 2013 was an especially notable year in this regard. IWaste Management Officials’ Association—received a request from our At an awards ceremony in Boston held by EPA Region 1 (New England), NEIWPCC member states’ environmental commissioners to provide them with specific received a prestigious EPA Environmental Merit Award for our many years of information about our structures, function, and work. The commissioners’ work with multiple states on wastewater management training programs. Such goal was straightforward: to look for ways to increase coordination, consider training is critical to prepare operators to take on management positions at wastewater new opportunities for working together, and identify additional means treatment facilities, which have of reaching our common goals. Each interstate agency was to prepare its been experiencing a surge in own report, and we were more than happy to do so. Later in the year, Ron retirements at the manager level. Poltak and Susan Sullivan delivered our report and a presentation to the The effort began in 2007, when commissioners, and the response was uniformly positive. The commissioners NEIWPCC played a pivotal role in appreciated the focused opportunity to learn more about NEIWPCC and how setting up and coordinating the first much we achieve each year. such program—the Rhode Island We also carried on our relatively new end-of-the-year tradition of Operator Boot Camp. The success distributing what we call our state summaries. For each of our member states, of the Rhode Island program led to we produced a customized fact sheet in December 2012 that provided brief NEIWPCC’s involvement with similar explanations of the efforts in other states, including regional and in-state Connecticut, Massachusetts, and work that we engaged in during the year. The summaries provide an effective and concise means of informing residents of a member state, and state officials in particular, of the benefits of Commission membership. Our latest series of summaries, developed in December 2013, is available on our website at www. neiwpcc.org/ statesummaries.asp. NEIWPCC’s Leeann Hanson, coordinator of Maine’s Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee, and Tom Groves, NEIWPCC’s director of wastewater and onsite programs, pose with our EPA Environmental Merit Award. Joining them are Curt Spalding (left), administrator for EPA Region 1, and MassDEP Commissioner Ken Kimmell.
Annual Report 2013 9 New Hampshire. In Maine, NEIWPCC’s training connections. Former NEIWPCC staffer Bethany Card, now an assistant commissioner arm, JETCC, has for several years coordinated a at MassDEP and regular participant in our Executive Committee and Commission highly successful management program that is open meetings, received the President’s Service Award, given to ACWA members for to wastewater and drinking water operators. See exceptional service to the association over the last fiscal year. New Hampshire DES’s page 18 for more details on these efforts. Harry Stewart, a former NEIWPCC chair who’s long represented the commissioner The Association of Clean Water Administrators of NHDES at our meetings, received the Environmental Statesman Award, ACWA’s presented Susy King, NEIWPCC’s director of water highest honor. The award is presented to ACWA members who have demonstrated quality programs, with its Young Professionals outstanding service to the association over many years. Award, which honors ACWA members for notable Several years ago, NEIWPCC initiated an awards program of our own to honor contributions to the work of an ACWA committee, exemplary service by our staff, and we were thrilled to present our 2013 Annual task force, or workgroup; and for demonstrated Achievement Award to our staff at the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary potential for future leadership in ACWA. King has Program, Kate Boicourt and Gabriela Munoz. The award was well-deserved participated for years in several ACWA groups, recognition of the superb work they’ve done for years, from coordinating vital including the Legal Affairs Committee; Monitoring, scientific projects to developing extraordinary products such as the program’sState of Standards, and Assessment Committee; and the the Estuary report. TMDLs and Watersheds Committee. She also represents ACWA on the Environmental Council of the States’ Quicksilver Caucus. ACWA also honored two individuals with strong NEIWPCC Fitting Tribute
NEIWPCC’s Susy King accepts the Association of Clean n July 2013, we lost one of the greats of Water Administrators’ Young Professionals Award at environmental protection in New England. Ira ACWA’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ILeighton had worked for EPA for 41 years, the last 13 as EPA Region 1’s deputy regional administrator, overseeing environmental programs throughout the region. On tough challenges, Ira was a steadfast proponent of getting the states and all stakeholders to the table, an ardent believer in listening before deciding. As a tribute to this amazing man and his work, NEIWPCC joined with several other organizations to initiate the Ira Leighton “In Service to States” Environmental Merit Award. The award will recognize an individual or organization that has made significant strides in facilitating state and federal partnerships through innovative sustainable solutions addressing critical environmental challenges in New England. Award recipients will have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and contributions in improving the air, waste, or water environment in New England at the local, state, or regional level. They will be champions of sustainability and agents for positive change within New England. Following Ira’s death, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said, “Ira was innovative, practical, and results-oriented, and his dedication and leadership were crucial… He improved the quality of life for millions of people across NEIWPCC’s 2013 Annual Achievement Award recipients, Gabriela Munoz (left) and Kate the country.” Now, we have a new way of honoring those who follow in Ira’s Boicourt (right) of the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program, celebrate the news footsteps. with Deputy Director Susan Sullivan.
10 Challenges of Our Times
n NEIWPCC’s early years, the Commission played a major role in creating water quality standards and classifications for interstate waters in New England and New York State, which led naturally to an involvement I Rhode Island Department of Transportation with issues surrounding wastewater treatment. That focus on wastewater continues to this day, but NEIWPCC is now about so much more. As the pages that follow make evident, NEIWPCC works on many issues and in many ways—all of it driven by the needs in our member states. The challenges of our times are challenges that are continuously evolving, and the work must adapt to the changing demands. In fiscal 2013, we achieved much on many fronts, but rest assured—the push for progress will continue in earnest. There may well come a time to rest and revel in our success in dealing with water and wastewater issues. That time is not now. Post-Sandy scenes such as this photo of a collapsed house on the beach in Charlestown, Rhode Island, visually captured the need to better plan for the extreme weather of the future.
describe pre-storm preparations, immediate post-storm steps, and actions to Building Resilience be taken well after a storm has passed to evaluate and improve preparation and response. n the issue of climate change, the disturbing news keeps coming. Early in • NEIWPCC hosted a storm response workshop in the summer of 2013 that 2014, the Natural Resources Defense Council published results of research brought together top federal and state officials to discuss ways to mitigate the Othat looked at 75 scientific studies to compile a summary of predicted impact and more quickly recover from major storms (see story on next page). water-related climate impacts for each of 12 cities, including Boston and New York. Storm response and climate change adaptation were also key topics of discussion The report labels each potential impact as highly likely, likely, or possible, and the at the annual Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference, which we coordinated with verdict for the cities is dire. In Boston, rising sea levels, more frequent and intense support from Vermont DEC (page 22). storm events, and increased flooding are predicted as highly likely, while increased • In a special report published in NEIWPCC’s print newsletter, Interstate Water annual precipitation is likely, and water supply challenges due to increased droughts Report, in April 2013, we reported in depth on how our member states were are possible. Like so many reports before it, the NRDC study illustrated vividly how contending with an array of water challenges related to Hurricane Sandy and climate change has the potential to creep into every aspect of our daily lives, from other episodes of extreme weather. To gather information, IWR editor Stephen commerce, to recreation, to public health. Hochbrunn spent two days in New York with those caught in Sandy’s wrath, The threats posed by climate change have spurred initiatives throughout including managers of wastewater treatment plants besieged by the storm’s surge. NEIWPCC’s member states. At the Commission, we’ve also taken important steps: The special report highlighted examples of preparedness initiatives springing up • NEIWPCC is developing an addendum to our most popular publication, TR-16 across the region. Guides for the Design of Wastewater Treatment Works, that will focus exclusively • NEIWPCC staff communicated regularly with members of our Climate Change on strategies to improve storm resiliency. To write the supplement, NEIWPCC Workgroup, which consists of staff from our seven member states, EPA, the U.S. Environmental Engineer John Murphy is working with an advisory committee Geological Survey, NOAA, and academia. A meeting of the workgroup in our comprised of staff from our member states. In 2014, Murphy will visit wastewater Lowell offices in February 2013 focused in part on EPA’s Draft Climate Change treatment plants to gather insights from operators put to the test during storms. Adaptation Plan, and input from the workgroup members as well as from our He’s also getting input from design engineers and academic researchers. The Executive Committee proved instrumental as we developed a comment letter addendum will include potential design modifications to existing plants and will on the plan. Submitted to EPA in April 2013, the letter included a number of
Annual Report 2013 11 Lessons Learned
n June 25, 2013, top officials and staff from all seven of NEIWPCC’s member states and EPA gathered at NEIWPCC headquarters in Lowell Oto exchange insights on responding to major storms. What they had to say proved that recent storms, for all the destruction they caused, also taught the states much about how to be better prepared the next time. Each state delivered a presentation on a different aspect of storm response. In one presentation, Vermont DEC’s Mike Kline said that when Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, the state didn’t have the tools and regulations in place to deal effectively with river management during flood response and recovery. Now Vermont has the tools, due in part to passage of a state law that allows state regulators to implement new rules for stream alterations, stormwater discharges, and repairs to stormwater infrastructure during emergencies such as flooding. A special report Another speaker, Connecticut DPH’s Ellen Blaschinski, talked about small in the April 2013 communities that had to issue boil-water advisories because their drinking issue of NEIWPCC’s water treatment systems were disconnected from the power grid for an Interstate Water Report extended period. “A big problem,” Blaschinski said, “was that if the systems featured stories that had generators, they were designed to run for 3 to 4 days, not 9 to 11 days.” revealed strategies for Blaschinski said Connecticut was looking into the possibility of using monies coping with weather from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to help small systems acquire crises. Among those appropriate backup generator capacity. interviewed were New After the workshop, the feelings of the participants may have been best York City DEP’s Ravi summed up by Bethany Card, who represents MassDEP Commissioner Ken Basant (left) and Sal Kimmel at NEIWPCC Executive Committee and Commission meetings. Scapelito, who found themselves in the midst of chaos as the surge from Hurricane Sandy “Because of the increased frequency and severity of storms, all the states are stormed into the city’s Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant. Damage included a cave-in evaluating what we do well and what we need to do better in terms of protecting of the concrete above the plant’s regulator (above), through which 36 million gallons of public health and the effluent flowed untreated into Jamaica Bay before the plant’s operations were restored. environment,” Card said. “Sharing lessons learned with our state and federal counterparts was a great first suggestions, including a call for EPA to provide greater detail on “the sometimes step toward improving our complementary, oppositional, synergistic, and reiterative relationships between storm response in the short mitigation efforts and adaptation efforts.” The letter stated that “more effort term and coming up with to curb sea level rise (mitigation) will result in less need to armor vulnerable adaptation strategies in the coastline areas (adaptation).” The comment letter drew significant attention and long term.” was highlighted in the publication Inside EPA. • Key work related to climate change and extreme weather is also being done by our staff at programs with which we maintain close relationships. See page 30, for MassDEP’s Bethany Card (left) example, for details on a much-anticipated flood resilience report developed by at the NEIWPCC-hosted storm NEIWPCC staff at the Lake Champlain Basin Program. For news about important response workshop in June scientific studies involving our staff at the Long Island Sound Study and Hudson 2013. River National Estuarine Research Reserve, see pages 32 and 34 respectively.
12 with the group to assemble draft guidelines that served as starting points for discussion. Common Ground In 2012 and 2013, we convened four stakeholder meetings to refine the guidelines and seek consensus; the meetings attracted a diverse group, including turf fertilizer man- rom early spring through late fall, here in the Northeast we cherish green spaces ufacturers, lawn care professionals, sports turf managers, turf industry trade groups in our neighborhoods. But over the last quarter-century it has become apparent and professional associations, researchers, university extension specialists, municipal Fthat the way lawns are typically maintained isn’t compatible with downstream and private groundskeepers, state and federal environmental agencies, and watershed water quality. Fertilizer runoff and leaching from lawns contributes to nutrient groups. Input from the meetings informed NEIWPCC’s development of an interim final pollution that compromises the suitability report that we released for comment in early October 2013. Based on the comments of water bodies for recreation, fishing, received, we made minor changes to the text, and in January 2014, we published our swimming, aesthetic enjoyment, and drinking final report, NEIWPCC’sRegional Clean Water Guidelines for Fertilization of Urban Turf. water supply. Residential lawns, along with The report’s 33 guidelines illustrate that reducing nutrient pollution from fertilizer commercially landscaped areas and low- needn’t be at odds with lush green grass. On the contrary, many management practices traffic public areas (collectively defined as that reduce runoff simultaneously improve the health of turf. At the suggestion of “urban turf”) make up a small but significant stakeholders, the guidelines are organized around the “5 R’s.” The first four—right percentage of total land cover regionally–and formulation, right rate, right time, right place—are tenets espoused by turf fertilizer how we manage urban turf has a substantial professionals and agronomists who advocate that if turf managers select the right impact on the overall picture of landscape- products with the right nutrient composition, apply them at the correct rates according generated water pollution. to soil conditions, and do it all at the right time and in the right place, there is a high In 2011, the New England state likelihood that the fertilization practices will improve turf health with reduced potential environmental agency commissioners asked for environmental impacts. The fifth R—right supporting practices—refers to the NEIWPCC to develop a uniform set of notion that fertilization is one practice under a broader umbrella of lawn care practices regional urban turf fertilizer guidelines. It that can affect turf’s ability to absorb nutrients and prevent erosion losses. was thought that a regional approach would The guidelines are designed to potentially alleviate the need for legislation in states be helpful to both environmental managers that have not passed laws on residential turf fertilizer, to supplement laws in states that working in watersheds crossing state boundaries and to fertilizer and turf industry have passed legislation, and to serve as a basis for public education and outreach by companies operating in multiple states. The 2011 request called for the guidelines to any state or municipality. To download the complete report as well as a short-form list be developed though a collaborative process, with input gathered from industry and of the guidelines, visit the Northeast Voluntary Turf Fertilizer Initiative section of our non-industry stakeholders. website at www.neiwpcc.org/turffertilizer.asp. To get the process started, NEIWPCC established a project advisory group com- posed of state and federal environmental agency representatives. NEIWPCC worked Standards and Limits
nder the Clean Water Act, EPA and the states Water quality play roles as co-regulators in establishing the standards serve as Uwater quality standards that are a cornerstone the foundation for of water resource protection in America. The standards the water-quality process has three main parts: states must designate based approach to water bodies for specific uses, such as recreation, water pollution control and supply, aquatic life habitat, or agriculture; describe the are a fundamental chemical, physical, and biological conditions necessary component The seats are filled at the March 26, 2013, stakeholder meeting in Portsmouth, New to meet the designated uses through specific water of watershed Hampshire, as NH DES’s Harry Stewart delivers opening remarks. NEIWPCC staff quality criteria; and establish an antidegradation policy management. coordinated the meeting, which was one of four stakeholder meetings we convened to gather to maintain and protect water quality. It’s EPA’s job U.S. Environmental input used in the development of the turf fertilizer guidelines. to approve these proposed standards. At NEIWPCC, Protection Agency
Annual Report 2013 13 we look to help our states any way we can in NEIWPCC’s Nutrient Criteria Workgroup, their work to improve standards in ways that which brings together staff from all our states. best protect their waters. Our Water Quality With the workgroup’s help, we hosted two Standards Workgroup, comprised of our regional webinars to allow states to share state and federal partners, provides a forum approaches to criteria development—and those for identifying interstate water quality issues approaches can differ markedly. Maine and and developing solutions through regional Vermont, for example, are pursuing promising communication. approaches that simultaneously incorporate The workgroup focused in 2013 on a range nutrient concentrations and environmental of topics, including downstream protection response indicators, taking advantage of the issues and water quality criteria to support value that each of these assessment tools recreational uses for waters. Of special interest offers. Connecticut, by contrast, has opted was EPA’s proposed national rulemaking to for unique models and equations to represent clarify the water quality standards regulation, nutrient enrichment by examining relationships published in the Federal Register in the fall of between nutrient loads and environmental 2013. EPA’s goal is to enhance the effectiveness responses. Amid such diversity and complexity, of the standards process in restoring and NEIWPCC’s ability to provide interstate forums maintaining the nation’s waters, but there’s Ellen Weitzler, EPA Region 1’s water quality standards coordinator, makes a point for the exchange of ideas and information is room for improvement. NEIWPCC coordinated during a meeting of NEIWPCC’s Water Quality Standards Workgroup. proving to be especially valuable. with our states to submit a comment letter on the rule in which we sought clarification on key points and expressed concern about the impact on states of some proposals, such as the development of new uses. Another major subject of interest during the year: EPA’s national recommendations TMDLs: Present and Future for aluminum criteria. In the Northeast, naturally high levels of aluminum in rivers and streams make it hard to meet the limits recommended nationally by EPA, and n the water quality standards process, a state must place any water bodies that the science behind predicting aluminum’s toxicity is fiercely debated. That’s left some are not attaining standards for designated uses due to impairment by one or more municipalities questioning the aluminum limits in wastewater treatment plant permits, Ipollutants on the state’s 303(d) list. For all waters on this list, a state is required to especially when the high cost of compliance with the limits is considered. To assist develop a Total Maximum Daily Load, otherwise known as a TMDL, which specifies with this difficult issue, NEIWPCC staff researched aluminum chemistry and toxicity, how much of a pollutant a water body can receive and still meet its water quality identified waters regionally and nationally where aluminum levels naturally exceed the standards as well as how that pollutant limit is allocated to the various sources criteria, and explored alternative criteria developed in other parts of the country. contributing to the waters. Developing and implementing TMDLs is and probably Throughout the year, nutrient criteria—that is, limits on the amount of nitrogen and always will be a demanding task, but TMDLs have been successful in many cases in phosphorus a water body can tolerate and still meet its designated uses—continued our region and across the country in restoring water quality. How to build on that to be a priority within the region. EPA is pushing states to take a numeric rather than experience and further enhance the TMDL program has been a major focus for a a narrative approach to nutrient criteria, and we closely followed the progress of our while—and especially in 2013. states in this regard. But progress doesn’t come easily, as NEIWPCC’s Susy King made EPA’s formal name for the effort is a Long-Term Vision for Assessment, clear in a quote that appeared in an article on nutrient control in the Summer 2013 Restoration, and Protection under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program, NEWEA Journal. “Developing numeric nutrient criteria is very complicated,” King but it’s typically referred to simply as the TMDL vision. During the year, the states said. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach. The effects of nutrients can vary widely and EPA finalized a multi-year national effort to develop the vision, which consists from water body to water body. States are focusing not just on the concentrations of of six goals and associated implementation plans designed to maximize the water nutrients, but on their effects on algae growth, water clarity, and other indicators. They quality benefits of the TMDL program. Emily Bird, who manages NEIWPCC’s TMDL are looking at relationships between nutrient concentrations and other environmental program, participated in the 2013 National Training Workshop on CWA 303(d) responses—the process is very data intensive and complex.” Listing and TMDLs, where the vision was presented and discussed in detail among King added that the states are actively talking to each other to share approaches, members of state and EPA TMDL programs. challenges, and successes. One of the main vehicles for this communication is As a follow-up to the workshop, NEIWPCC held a meeting of our TMDL
14 Sound Strategies
n the surface, Long Island Sound boasts 600 miles of coastline and provides reprieve from the summer heat and city bustle as millions of people take Oto this water body each year. Beneath the surface, the sound is the only place where salt water from the Atlantic mixes with fresh water from the Thames, Housatonic, and Connecticut Rivers, creating a complex and vibrant ecosystem. Unfortunately, the state of the estuary isn’t what it used to be; excessive algal growth triggered by nutrients from wastewater treatment plants, polluted runoff, and other sources has led to major concerns about oxygen depletion. While only New York and Connecticut can boast Long Island Sound coastlines, the sound’s watershed stretches throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, making it the responsibility of all five states to restore the health of this great water body. To help live up to that responsibility, NEIWPCC coordinates a workgroup that includes representatives from the environmental agencies of the five watershed states as well as EPA. The group is working to enhance implementation of the Long Island Sound TMDL for dissolved oxygen, which EPA approved in 2001. Throughout 2013, members participated in conference calls and in-person meetings in an effort to evaluate Traci Iott of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection explains the nitrogen reductions TMDL vision at the May 2013 meeting of NEIWPCC’s TMDL Workgroup. from stormwater and nonpoint sources that have occurred since the Workgroup in May 2013 to help state staff further understand the vision—and we TMDL baseline year of included plenty of experts to cover the topic. EPA’s Menchu Martinez called in from 1990. Tangible actions the agency’s Washington headquarters to provide an overview of the vision, which were identified to enhance presents new ways for states to identify priorities for restoration and protection of TMDL implementation water bodies. Connecticut DEEP’s Traci Iott, who has played a leading role in the as well as to address data vision effort, described how states are prioritizing while also developing strategic and information gaps to plans to address those priorities under the vision. EPA’s Ellen Weitzler and Rosella better measure progress O’Connor gave regional perspectives on behalf of Regions 1 and 2 respectively. And made under the TMDL in NEIWPCC’s Bird presented examples of strategies states may choose from to support the future. implementation of the vision in their state. Beyond the workgroup The value to the region of Bird’s expertise in TMDLs was evident in many ways coordination, NEIWPCC during the year—and could clearly be seen in an article she wrote on the perils of staff focused on three ocean acidification for the October 2013 issue of NEIWPCC’sInterstate Water Report. main LIS TMDL-related Bird wrote that one possible management approach, as suggested by the Center for projects, including the nitrogen removal study Biological Diversity, is to set a TMDL for carbon dioxide (CO2) air pollution. As the article explained, however, NEIWPCC’s member states have concerns about the TMDL described on the next approach since ocean acidification is a water impairment caused by air pollution from page. In another project, sources around the globe. Also, states currently lack the data and resources to develop NEIWPCC’s Emily Bird assembled a qualitative a TMDL for CO2 air pollution. Thanks to Bird’s article, more people are aware of ocean acidification, its impacts on coastal ecosystems and communities, and the unique evaluation of the scope challenges it presents, including for those working in the TMDL world. and effectiveness of
Annual Report 2013 15 stormwater and nonpoint source nitrogen controls. The report compiles documents written by each watershed state on urban and In Progress: Nitrogen Removal Study agricultural nitrogen management programs and includes a summary by Bird that draws conclusions at the watershed scale. In the third ith NEIWPCC playing a central coordinating role, a project is underway to explore project, we are developing a stormwater and nonpoint source best low-cost ways to reduce nitrogen in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants that management practices tracking and accounting system that will be Wdischarge to rivers in the upper Connecticut River basin—that is, in Massachusetts, used to evaluate and improve stormwater and nonpoint source TMDL New Hampshire, and Vermont. The waters ultimately drain into Long Island Sound, where implementation. The first phase of this work—evaluating existing excess nitrogen inflow is a major contributing factor in low dissolved oxygen events. tracking and accounting systems and making recommendations on a Funded through an assistance agreement granted by EPA to NEIWPCC on behalf of the system for the LIS watershed—was conducted throughout 2013 and Long Island Sound Study and the Long Island Sound TMDL Workgroup, the project officially will be finalized in 2014. got underway in the summer of 2013. A small team led by Jeanette Brown of JJ Environmental, the firm hired by NEIWPCC to conduct the study, visited 29 wastewater treatment plants in the three states. The team toured each facility to see the treatment processes and gauge the potential for changes that can reduce nitrogen for minimal capital costs. “Every single one of the visits was A Tradition of Training rewarding,” Brown said. “The plant personnel were all very interested in the project and very interested in doing what’s right for the environment. Just tremendous cooperation.” raining our region’s wastewater treatment operators is Modeling is now being conducted to determine how particular modifications or retrofits something NEIWPCC has been doing successfully for more at a plant would affect nitrogen removal. The modeling results will guide development of Tthan 45 years. But we still aren’t satisfied. In 2013, we recommendations for each plant; these recommendations will be shared during a second continued to push to improve our regional training program, to build visit to the plants to get staff feedback. By summer’s end in 2014, JJ Environmental is a lineup of class offerings that even more fully addressed the needs in expected to provide a final report to NEIWPCC, EPA, and the three states that includes the our member states, and to ensure recommendations for each plant along with cost estimates that convey the money that would each course included precisely have to be spent per pound of nitrogen removed. NEIWPCC and the Long Island Sound TMDL what today’s operators need to Workgroup will use the results of the study to estimate the dissolved oxygen improvements that know. This constant emphasis on could be seen in Long Island Sound if the recommendations are implemented as well as the staying relevant and responsive cost-effectiveness of such improvements. ensures our training keeps experienced operators current on the latest treatment practices and technologies and provides critical instruction to those looking to enter or advance in the field. In fiscal 2013, NEIWPCC trained 1,288 individuals in the process of conducting 68 wastewater classes across the region. As usual, our veteran in- house training coordinators—Don Kennedy and James LaLiberte— led many of the courses, but we also relied, as we always do, on expert instructors from NEIWPCC Training Coordinator JJ Environmental’s Jeanette Brown (second from left) listens as Carl Shaw, supervisor of the wastewater the public and private sectors. Don Kennedy leads a course in treatment plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, explains the facility’s processes. The Pittsfield plant was Classes took place at locations the operation and maintenance of among 29 WWTPs visited for the nitrogen removal study. throughout the region to assure wastewater collection systems.
16 plant staff in each member wastewater and water industries. That included delivering courses on a contract state could access a range basis at companies and organizations ranging from North Shore Community College of convenient educational in Danvers, Massachusetts, to the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. Important opportunities. Standard outcomes were also achieved through the work by our staff at JETCC in Maine courses, such as our basic, (see below) and our award-winning work on management training (next page). At intermediate, and advanced NEIWPCC, training is a tradition that keeps growing stronger. classes in municipal wastewater treatment plant operation, continued to be popular and frequently Northern Exposure were filled to capacity, while classes with a or nearly 30 years, NEIWPCC has managed the Joint more narrow focus, Environmental Training Coordinating Committee, which such as Introduction to Fcoordinates affordable, high-quality training programs Predictive Maintenance that meet the needs of water pollution control personnel and Machinery and other environmental professionals throughout Maine. Health, also drew Overseen by a board of directors representing all relevant heavy attendance. We sectors of the environmental field, JETCC delivers a wide were pleased to see range of well-attended programs every year on wastewater high turnout as well and drinking water topics. The 2013 offerings included for newer courses, multi-week wastewater treatment classes as well as popular one-day sessions such as including Current and Hands-On Laboratory Testing; GIS, Data Collection, and CCTV to Manage Assets; Emerging Nutrient Removal Technologies, and Disinfection: From Source Water to the Estuary. reflecting strong demand for the instruction. JETCC’s year-long Management Candidate School remains a particularly successful Beyond our regional program of training story. The school, which provides a comprehensive managerial education to select courses, NEIWPCC engaged in much other work aimed at enhancing the skills and increasing the knowledge of those in the
NEIWPCC Training Coordinator James LaLiberte assists a student during a course in industrial wastewater treatment at the coal- fired power plant in Salem, Massachusetts. With the plant being shut down to make room for a new natural gas- powered facility, we were contracted to deliver the course as part of a worker On September 19, 2013, participants in Maine’s fourth Management Candidate School gather retraining program. after receiving their diplomas during the Maine Wastewater Control Association’s annual convention.
Annual Report 2013 17 operators, continued in 2013 for a fourth year with support from the Maine Wastewater Control Association, Maine Water Utilities Association, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and Maine Department of Health and Human Services. As Meeting the Management Need always, there was plenty of positive feedback. “It was by far the best class of my entire career,” said Christopher Curtis of the Yarmouth Water District. “The course provided ith many managers of wastewater treatment plants and drinking the best group of speakers with real-life experiences that I have ever encountered.” water treatment facilities at or near retirement age, a growing need JETCC also assisted Maine DEP’s Non-Point Source Training Center with its Wexists for operators qualified to assume managerial roles. Since courses on erosion and sediment control. Altogether, JETCC directly coordinated 2007, NEIWPCC has collaborated with state agencies and trade associations or assisted with 43 training sessions that reached a total of 1,225 participants. to provide comprehensive managerial education to mid-level wastewater and JETCC also conducted all recordkeeping and correspondence for Maine’s wastewater water facility operators. Currently, five of our member states run management operator certification program, which serves Maine’s roughly 820 licensed wastewater training programs, all based on Rhode Island’s Operator Boot Camp, which treatment plant operators. NEIWPCC helped establish in 2007. (Rhode Island stopped offering the training in 2010 because demand for managerial candidates in the state had been met, but the program resumed in 2013 as the need for candidates During JETCC’s North returned.) Each year-long management curriculum covers subjects of relevance Country Convention to new managers, including supervisory skills, labor relations, and budgeting. in Presque Isle, Maine, To assess the impact of the management training programs, NEIWPCC on April 3-4, 2013, conducted an online survey of graduates who had completed the programs NEIWPCC’s Leeann at least six months earlier. Some respondents said a program helped them Hanson (center), get a promotion, while others anticipate reaping dividends in the future. One JETCC’s coordinator, respondent noted, “I was already plant manager, but as a direct result of this speaks with Verdant course, my career path now includes a very good possibility of succession to the Water’s Aubrey Strause position of superintendent of our district.” For people already in management (left), president of the positions, the programs made them better prepared for current responsibilities. Maine Wastewater One survey participant raved, “In every class there was something for me to Control Association, take back and use in my day-to-day operations.” The survey revealed that the and keynote speaker programs foster new connections, with some respondents saying they’d already Patricia Aho (right), contacted former classmates to get an opinion or answer to a question. commissioner of The survey provided solid evidence that the management programs are Maine DEP. The 2013 meeting their goals and generating results. In June 2013, NEIWPCC received convention attracted an Environmental Merit Award from EPA Region 1 for our many years of work 138 participants, the with multiple states on most ever for the event. wastewater management Through the North schools (see page 9). Country Convention, held every other year Bill Patenaude of Rhode in Presque Isle, JETCC Island’s Department provides water and of Environmental wastewater operators Management provides the in northern Maine with instruction during one of the type of rewarding the monthly sessions in the educational and trade state’s year-long Operator show experience Boot Camp, which grooms typically reserved for the more populated southern portion of the state. One of the convention’s operators for positions in many exhibitors was the Maine chapter of the American Public Works Association (above), an upper management. avid supporter of wastewater training in Maine.
18 of oxygen, are a key feature in processes that create biosolids, since the digesters not Managing the By-Product only reduce pathogens in residuals but also create methane that can be used as fuel. Workgroup members discussed the potential impacts of the Massachusetts law on he options for disposing of the semi-solid residue left over from the biosolids operations employing anaerobic digestion. wastewater treatment process are limited primarily to three—landfilling, NEIWPCC’s work surrounding this issue also includes training. On May 23, 2013, Tincineration, and land application as fertilizer—and many people view land well over two dozen students attended a session that we coordinated and hosted on application as the most environmentally the microbiology of anaerobic digesters. One good reason for the strong turnout: the benign choice. To be land-applied, residuals primary instructor was Michael Gerardi, one of the nation’s leading authorities on must be processed to meet regulatory limits wastewater biology. on pollutants such as cadmium and mercury; the industry term for residuals that meet the limits is biosolids. Although skepticism lingers in some corners about the public health and The Onsite Alternative environmental impacts of land-applying biosolids, their use is widespread. The photo hile most homes and businesses in NEIWPCC’s member states are at right shows biosolids freshly applied in connected to a centralized wastewater treatment facility, a significant October 2013 to a farm field just outside Wnumber rely on an onsite septic system or small community cluster Concord, New Hampshire. system—and there are signs that number is increasing. Consider, for example, the Through NEIWPCC’s Residuals Workgroup, figures provided in Connecticut DEEP’s Onsite Wastewater Management Section of we bring together the residuals coordinators the Long Island Sound TMDL Enhanced Implementation Plan Report. CT DEEP said the of our member states’ environmental agencies, percentage of households managing sanitary waste with septic systems rose from who over the years have discussed a litany of roughly 29 percent in 1990 to 38 percent in 2010 (according to data collected by CT complex regulatory issues. 2013 was no exception. At the group’s meeting on DEEP’s Municipal Facilities Section for the 2010 U.S. Census of Housing). Such high August 8, members discussed state-specific issues related to land application usage needn’t be an issue, since onsite systems are a perfectly acceptable option if including the statewide commercial food waste disposal ban taking effect in they’re installed, operated, and maintained correctly. But therein lies the problem. Due Massachusetts in October 2014. The ban will require any entity that disposes of primarily to poor maintenance, as much as 20 percent of onsite systems malfunction at least one ton of organic material per week to donate or repurpose the useable each year, potentially posing a threat to the environment and public health. food; any remaining food waste will be shipped to an anaerobic digestion facility. NEIWPCC’s primary vehicle for addressing onsite issues is our Onsite Wastewater Anaerobic digesters, in which microorganisms break down material in the absence Workgroup, which brings NEIWPCC and EPA staff together with our states’ onsite wastewater disposal directors. The group’s expertise is well recognized within the onsite realm, as evidenced by a request for the workgroup to review EPA’s draft of its Model Lindsay D’Anna Program for Onsite Systems Management in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. During of Casella the year, the workgroup also discussed high-priority topics such as the states’ processes Organics, a Maine-based provider of residuals Storms arriving from the sea often management result in coastal erosion, which can services, delivers lead to damage to septic systems. Pipes Jonathan Zwarg, RIDEM Jonathan Zwarg, a presentation associated with this advanced onsite at our May system in Westerly, Rhode Island, 2013 training broke when its pod floated out of the session on the ground as Hurricane Sandy pummeled microbiology the area. The storm’s surge impacted of anaerobic hundreds of onsite systems along the digesters. Rhode Island coastline.
Annual Report 2013 19 for approving new onsite technologies and Rhode Island’s emergency regulations for onsite system repairs in the wake of damaging storms. As seen by the photo on Coordination in the the previous page, onsite systems on our states’ coastlines are not immune from the impacts of extreme weather. Commonwealth NEIWPCC’s John Murphy, who coordinates the workgroup, also led one of our most well-attended training sessions of the year; more than 100 onsite ince 2004, NEIWPCC has had one other large responsibility in the onsite professionals took part in his Technology Seminar on Massachusetts Title 5 arena: coordinating Massachusetts’s Title 5 Onsite Wastewater Training and Approved Technologies on May 1, 2013, in Taunton, Massachusetts. Earlier in the SCertification of System Inspectors and Soil Evaluators program. The program fiscal year, we hosted a course at our Lowell headquarters on advanced treatment plays a critical role in ensuring that the individuals who inspect septic systems in technology for onsite systems, and it too proved popular. Instructors from the New the state and evaluate England Onsite Wastewater Training Program at the University of Rhode Island the soils at installation discussed operation and maintenance practices for everything from dosing systems sites are fully qualified to pressurized drainfields. Advanced onsite systems differ from conventional septic for the tasks. In fiscal tanks in a number of ways, but primarily by incorporating an additional treatment 2013, NEIWPCC step between solids separation in a tank and the final dispersal of effluent. staff administered the certification renewal process for approximately 2,800 Soil Evaluators and System Inspectors who were approved or last renewed in 2010. We also coordinated eight training classes—one certification course for Soil Evaluators, two for System Inspectors, In Spencer, Massachusetts, a student assesses the color of a soil and five Soil Evaluator during one of the field sessions associated with a Title 5 Soil refresher sessions—for a Evaluator certification course coordinated by NEIWPCC. total of 213 students. In addition, NEIWPCC and MassDEP staff worked on updating the written portion of the exam for Soil Evaluator certification. The staff revised existing questions and added new ones on various soils-related top- Above: George Loomis, ics, making the exam more in line with cur- director of the University rent practices and also fully multiple-choice. of Rhode Island’s Prospective Soil Evaluators must pass both New England Onsite a written and field exam to become an ap- Wastewater Training proved Massachusetts Title 5 Soil Evaluator. Program, has the Since 2005, NEIWPCC has also partipants’ attention (right) during the Advanced Treatment Technology Operation NEIWPCC’s Paul Spina (on right in photo at and Maintenance for right) at the 2013 Massachusetts Health Officers Onsite Systems training Association Conference. Spina works with the session at NEIWPCC’s MHOA and MassDEP in coordinating the Lowell headquarters. Massachusetts Title 5 training and certification program.
20 coordinated Massachusetts’s extensive wastewater operator certification and training EPA initiatives such as the push for e-reporting. During the January meeting, we also, program. In fiscal 2013, NEIWPCC coordinated 24 exam prep courses serving a total for the first time, conducted what we expect will become a regular feature of the of 551 students for this program and began the administration of the license renewal workgroup’s meetings: a roundtable discussion on how each state would approach a process for approximately 5,600 wastewater treatment plant operators. specific permit condition or topic. The subject for the January meeting—whole effluent Aside from the wastewater courses, which are coordinated by our wastewater toxicity (WET) requirements, which seek to limit the toxic effect to aquatic organisms training staff, NEIWPCC’s Paul Spina managed all this work in Massachusetts. If that from all pollutants contained in a facility’s effluent. wasn’t enough, he had one other important achievement: initiating our new Waste- The meeting had one additional outcome. After workgroup members expressed water Certification Workgroup. The workgroup includes at least one participant from interest in bringing EPA’s NPDES Permit Writers’ Training Course to our region, each of our member states, and it’s quickly proven to be a superb vehicle for ex- NEIWPCC made our facilities and staff assistance available. Six months later, on changing ideas on matters such as operator exchange programs, discussing changes June 3, 2013, some 25 participants from throughout our region settled in for a in state protocols, and raising issues related to the testing and certification of waste- week-long program in Lowell on what goes into developing, issuing, and complying water treatment plant operators and the training hours required for license renewal. with NPDES permits. The course is designed for new permit writers as well as more experienced writers who need a refresher, and it drew praise from participants. “They MassDEP’s Tom delivered a vast amount of knowledge about a complicated program,” said MassDEP’s Bienkiewicz Marybeth Chubb. “The course was very well presented.” (center), secretary of One topic that is virtually Massachusetts’s Board unavoidable in permitting of Certification for discussions is EPA’s development Wastewater Treatment of a framework for integrated Plant Operators, planning. Under an integrated participates in a approach, municipalities may meeting of NEIWPCC’s achieve the water quality objectives new Wastewater of the Clean Water Act through the Certification integration of permitted wastewater Workgroup. and stormwater projects, allowing for cost-effective, sustainable plans addressing the totality of the work to be done rather than a series Curt Spalding, administrator for EPA Region 1, Permitting Matters of uncoordinated efforts to meet addresses participants in the NEIWPCC-hosted different permit limits. To assist February 2013 workshop on integrated planning. he 1972 amendments to the Clean Water Act provided the statutory basis for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program. In essence, Tthe establishment of the program meant that, going forward, any entity that wanted to discharge pollutants would need to get a NPDES permit or the discharge would be considered illegal. Sounds straightforward—but it isn’t, of course. For decades, NEIWPCC has assisted our states on matters related to permitting, which are invariably complex. Our regional NPDES Workgroup brings together state and EPA staff whose work is connected to the NPDES program, including both those who write permits and those involved with permit compliance and enforcement. The group’s meetings always include a variety of perspectives, in part because not all our states administer their own NPDES permit programs; Massachusetts and New Hampshire are not currently delegated by EPA to issue NPDES permits, meaning EPA handles the process for them. Top federal, interstate, state, and municipal officials continue the discussion on integrated At a workgroup meeting in January 2013, members discussed nutrients, stormwater, planning at a NEIWPCC-coordinated workshop held in September at the New Hampshire strategic implementation, illicit connections, final permit quality review, and national DES offices in Portsmouth.
Annual Report 2013 21 with this complex effort, NEIWPCC held an integrated planning workshop in Lowell Vermont DEC Commissioner David Mears delivers involving state and federal agencies in February 2013; we then coordinated a much opening remarks at the 2013 Nonpoint Source larger workshop in September in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that also included Pollution Conference. municipal officials. Some 85 participants, including staff from each of our member states, attended the September event, which featured roundtable discussions and the workgroup meetings, state staff had the case studies on integrated planning. opportunity to discuss successes and challenges and to pose questions to the EPA staff present. Another major focus for NEIWPCC’s NPS staff was the annual Nonpoint Source Pollution High Priority: Polluted Runoff Conference, which we’ve been coordinating since 1990. Working closely with Vermont DEC staff, he progress made on cleaning up water pollution from point sources such as we put together a highly successful event that wastewater treatment plants has allowed for increased emphasis on what is took place May 14-15, 2013, in Burlington. The Tconsidered the leading remaining cause of water quality problems: nonpoint conference brought together 135 individuals source pollution. As rainfall or snowmelt moves over and through ground, the from across the region to share information on runoff picks up pollutants, ultimately depositing them in lakes, rivers, wetlands, NPS issues. In her keynote address, Sue Minter, and groundwater. These pollutants include excess fertilizers on farmland and lawns; deputy secretary of the Vermont Department of oil, grease, and toxic chemicals that accumulate on urban areas such as parking Transportation, explained lessons learned while lots; sediment from poorly managed construction sites; and bacteria and nutrients coordinating the emergency response to historic flooding brought on by Tropical Storm from livestock, pet wastes, and faulty septic systems. NEIWPCC’s work on NPS Irene in 2011. The event also featured a spirited panel discussion capturing a diversity issues included one of the year’s major achievements, the turf fertilizer guidelines of perspectives on how communities can approach adaptation to climate change. highlighted on page 13. But there was much more. Each year the conference also includes several field trips; in 2013, one option was Early in the fiscal year, NEIWPCC submitted a comment letter to EPA on behalf of to visit the site of a paired watershed study commissioned by the Vermont Agency our member states regarding the public review draft of the Nonpoint Source Program of Agriculture in cooperation with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. and Grants Guidelines for States and Territories. We explained in detail our states’ To evaluate the effects of several agricultural best management practices, the study shared concerns—including the inclusion of language in the guidelines that appeared is comparing results in two very similar watersheds. Field trip participants learned to give them the force of regulations—and suggested remedies. As with all NEIWPCC about the equipment the researchers used to install alternative farming practices and comment letters related to NPS pollution, members of our Nonpoint Source Pollution the state-of-the-art monitoring tools in place. Workgroup played a pivotal role in generating the content. Other priorities for the Beyond our work on nonpoint source pollution, NEIWPCC also continued to group during the year included the states’ work on their Nonpoint Source Management focus on a type of Plans. Each state is updating its plan based on EPA’s guidelines, and through polluted runoff that goes by a different name: stormwater. In The rain-swollen Lamoille the regulatory world, River, colored brown by the term refers to sediment runoff, flows through farmland in northern Vermont. In much of the country, it’s common During an NPS Conference to find a farm’s fields field trip, Dave Braun extending right to the banks of Stone Environmental of a river, providing an easy explains equipment used in route for contaminated a paired watershed study agricultural runoff to reach that is examining the effects water bodies. of agricultural BMPs. Bill Howland, NEIWPCC/LCBP 22 precipitation-induced runoff from construction and industrial sites in urban areas; development and the impacts of climate change,” Enck wrote. “Wetlands this stormwater runoff is generally considered a point source and therefore regulated reduce and filter runoff that pollutes local waterways, serve as essential habitats under the NPDES system. Through the meetings of NEIWPCC’s Stormwater for fish and wildlife, reduce the effects of climate change, and protect against Workgroup, our states have an efficient means of working together on stormwater flooding by absorbing stormwater.” It couldn’t be said any better. Enck’s statement issues, which can be contentious. succinctly captures all the reasons that NEIWPCC is deeply invested in working In fact, the 2013 meetings of our Stormwater Workgroup exemplified the crucial to protect wetlands, which provide so much and yet continue to disappear at an role NEIWPCC frequently plays as both an information clearinghouse for the states alarming rate. and an active representative for them. For example, the meetings enabled workgroup As in so many areas in which we work, a workgroup provides the foundation. members to get up to speed on the status of potential changes to Residual Designation NEIWPCC’s Wetlands Workgroup is made up of wetlands staff from our member Authority, which gives EPA or a state the ability to require NPDES permits for any states, EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. otherwise unpermitted discharge composed wholly of stormwater if the discharge Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries “We strongly contributes to the impairment of a water body; NEIWPCC subsequently relayed Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. encourage the the states’ concerns about the potential RDA changes to EPA. The workgroup also The group met three times during the year to discuss Corps to increase its discussed debates over the use of surrogate TMDLs, such as when impervious cover regionally relevant subjects including the National public outreach by in a watershed is used in a TMDL as a surrogate for stormwater-source pollutants in Wetlands Mitigation Action Plan. In addition, we conducting public streams listed for biological impairment. Another frequent topic of discussion during organized a special meeting in May 2013 to talk about meetings in all six the year: stormwater utilities. In a stormwater utility, municipalities collect fees from wetlands enforcement, and this successful meeting states to present the businesses and residents for stormwater-related work, such as repairs to storm sewer will likely become an annual event. NEIWPCC also draft New England systems, in the same way fees are collected for other public services. Group members hosted a webinar on the development of the Wetland General Permit to reported on planned and existing stormwater utilities and discussed challenges such as Condition Assessment Tool (WetCat), a new GIS tool, stakeholders and the need for effective outreach to overcome any public resistance to the additional fees. and its potential use in regulatory and non-regulatory provide them the The Stormwater Workgroup meetings underscored a defining tenet of NEIWPCC’s decision making. opportunity to work: when the issues are complicated, there’s no substitute for working through the One issue that received a lot of attention was a ask questions and options—together. proposal from the New England District of the U.S. engage in a public Army Corps of Engineers to replace its existing discussion.” separate general permits for each of the six New England states with one regional permit. (Activities in NEIWPCC Executive wetlands, such as depositing dredged or fill material, Director Ron Poltak in an Working for Wetlands typically require such a permit from the Corps.) The August 2013 letter to states had numerous issues with the regional permit Colonel Charles P. Samaris, n a statement in late 2013 U.S. Army Corps approach, and NEIWPCC took a series of steps to announcing new EPA monies to of Engineers, help communicate the concerns. Our staff coordinated protect wetlands in New York State, New England District I conference calls between the states and the Corps EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck and developed multiple letters summarizing the summarized the reasons for the action. states’ concerns. These efforts continued into fiscal 2014, when NEIWPCC hosted a “Wetlands provide enormous economic, meeting between the New England state environmental agency commissioners and environmental, and flood protection the Corps. benefits, but they are threatened by In addition to our regional efforts, NEIWPCC is coordinating a project that will support development of advanced protection and restoration measures for the Development has proven to be no friend remaining vegetated high marsh and intertidal marsh in New York’s Marine District. to wetlands, which may be drained and To address the need to assess changes to the area’s wetlands since the last regulatory permanently altered to accommodate inventory in 1974, NEIWPCC contracted with an engineering firm to develop a buildings. The proximity of human activity tidal wetlands trends analysis and loss characterization matrix that will help identify also increases the likelihood of degradation the causes of changes and assist in developing response strategies. The project is resulting from polluted runoff. expected to be completed in 2014.
Annual Report 2013 23 that focused on the progressive work on FQAs being done in Minnesota. During the Focus on Flora and Fauna year, NEIWPCC was also awarded a new EPA grant to continue researching FQA in partnership with the states; the monies will go toward developing a regional wetland f you took part in the annual conference of the New England Association of plant database to facilitate the study of FQA on a regionwide scale. Environmental Biologists in 2013, you had the opportunity to attend a workshop Iorganized by NEIWPCC on R, an increasingly popular open-source statistical computing tool. If you did attend, you had plenty of company. The workshop proved to be popular with state and federal agency staff who work on aquatic biomonitoring Growing Concern and bioassessment—that is, observing and evaluating the condition of aquatic biota to determine water body health. Matthew Baker, associate professor at the University anagers of water resources of Maryland, Baltimore County, led the workshop; he works with the same types of in the Northeast are biomonitoring data as many of the attendees. The R workshop was such a hit that Mincreasingly concerned with Mary Watzin NEIWPCC invited Baker to teach an ecological statistics refresher workshop at the seasonal algal blooms. While algae 2014 NEAEB conference. are naturally present in slow-moving In a related effort, NEIWPCC continued to coordinate efforts to develop a regionally streams, lakes, marine waters, and consistent approach to lake bioassessment. Our Lake Bioassessment Workgroup ponds and are often harmless, they partnered with Vermont DEC to execute a pilot project alongside EPA’s 2012 can proliferate to form mats, or National Lakes Assessment to test a regional methodology and evaluate the response blooms, under certain conditions. of near-shore (littoral) biotic communities to shoreline disturbances. The workgroup The blooms are not only unsightly also developed a workplan for a project now underway that is using GIS mapping but also can contain toxins that are A mat of cyanobacteria, with the techniques to evaluate the use of satellite data and high-resolution aerial imagery for potentially harmful to people, pets, appearance of spilled green paint, is an lakeshore condition assessments. livestock, and wildlife. increasingly common sight in our region. As part of our support for the New England Biological Assessment of Wetlands To help our states address this Workgroup (NEBAWWG), we coordinated a Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) issue, NEIWPCC has established the Harmful Algal Blooms Workgroup, which workshop in May 2013. The workshop built on our EPA-funded work with botanists is comprised of public health officials, water resource managers, and academic to develop a regional list of coefficient of conservatism (CoC) values for the region’s researchers from throughout our region. The workgroup’s first objective is to vascular plants; these values, or scores, are used in FQAs to help evaluate wetlands compile information from the growing body of knowledge about harmful algal restoration, mitigation, and conservation efforts. At the May workshop, staff from all blooms, monitoring techniques, and best management practices. This initial task our member states learned about will set the course for future workgroup projects, which may include developing efforts using FQA for wetlands regionally consistent monitoring protocols, creating public outreach materials, monitoring and assessment and identifying useful case discussed potential revisions studies, and providing to the CoC list. To further guidance to water utilities this effort, NEBAWWG held on best management a joint webinar with the Mid- practices. Atlantic Wetlands Workgroup The first meeting of our new Harmful Algal Blooms Workgroup gets underway At a NEIWPCC-hosted meeting in Lowell. At rear is of the New England Biological NEIWPCC Environmental Assessment of Wetlands Workgroup, Analyst Theresa Portante- the focus is on Beth Alafat, EPA Lyle, the workgroup’s Region 1’s project officer for coordinator. NEBAWWG.
24 Protecting the Source Hidden Hazards
n 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey released a study about the status of 40 distinct ssues associated with underground storage tanks remained a priority at underground water storage areas, or aquifers, in the United States. When water NEIWPCC, given the tanks’ potential to harm the environment, especially Iis withdrawn from an aquifer for agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses at Igroundwater. USTs, as they’re called in the industry, pose no risk when their a faster rate than it is recharged by precipitation or other water sources, the aquifer contents, typically gasoline, are contained. But leaking tanks, known as LUSTs, are a is depleted. The study showed that aquifer depletion is accelerating, resulting in serious threat. For well over 25 years NEIWPCC has been working with EPA, states, reduced well yields and stream flows. We have depleted aquifers around the country, tribes, and other partners on work aimed at preventing, detecting, and cleaning up the study revealed, by more than twice the volume of Lake Erie. LUSTs. The news only accentuated the need That work in 2013 for a regional forum to address such included one especially issues—and NEIWPCC meets that need notable highlight: Our staff through our Groundwater and Source coordinated the production Water Protection Workgroup, which of a training video for UST Shops Corp. Stewart’s brings together state and EPA staff inspectors that covers the who coordinate programs that protect nature of petroleum, site underground and aboveground sources assessment at tank closure, of drinking water. The workgroup met inspection equipment, field three times in fiscal 2013, and during observations and analysis, one session, a group member raised planning and decision a concern about aquifer protection making, and site closure. guidelines that call for restrictive zoning: The video also covers the how do states and municipalities ensure basics of sampling and that protection areas are accurately handling soil and water for Actors (in hard hats) and crew prepare to shoot a scene for delineated? The workgroup decided that field testing and for transport NEIWPCC’s new training video on site assessment at tank each state would provide NEIWPCC to a laboratory for analysis. closure. Visit www.neiwpcc.org/ust/whatdowehavehere.asp with information about its guidelines If the title of the video, to download the video or order a DVD. for this kind of restrictive zoning, and at What Do We Have Here? the next meeting, our staff distributed a An Inspector’s Guide to Site Assessment at Tank Closure, sounds familiar, there’s good document summarizing the information. reason: The video is based on a video of the same name that NEIWPCC produced in The summary showed our states 1990. But everything about the 2013 video—from the scenes shot with actors to the differ in their approaches to wellhead EPA Region 1’s Kira Jacobs at a meeting information presented—is all new and updated to reflect current closure practices. protection areas, but a trend emerged of our Groundwater and Source Water NEIWPCC also hosted several web-based UST training programs, including two among municipalities: most do not refer Protection Workgroup in March 2013. webinars that focused on the unique challenges posed by biofuels. The first webinar, to scientific delineations to determine in March 2013, provided the 325 participants with an overview of the potential zoning limitations. impact of biofuels on leak detection, the work of the National Work Group on Leak This workgroup has always covered a lot of important ground, and we saw Detection Evaluations, and detection of water and phase separation. Another 238 that again in 2013. Members reviewed a matrix, compiled by NEIWPCC staff, of people took part in the second webinar, held three months later, which focused on state policies on discharging water treatment residuals to onsite septic systems. corrosion challenges; instructors discussed corrosion in submersible pump sumps They discussed a proposed national groundwater monitoring network and heard of USTs containing ethanol blends and the corrosion of components and equipment numerous presentations from outside experts, including an instructive talk on in tanks containing ultra-low sulfur diesel. More than 92 percent of participants said nutrients in groundwater by two EPA Region 1 hydrologists. All this activity they were very satisfied or satisfied with the first webinar, with the remainder saying goes a long way toward improving the coordination of policy development and they were neutral; for the second webinar, the very satisfied/satisfied percentage rose groundwater and source water management efforts throughout our region. to 95 percent.
Annual Report 2013 25 Members of NEIWPCC’s Tanks Pictures of Success Workgroup are a study in t was quite a gathering in Denver, Colorado, as more than 660 people concentration attended the 24th National Tanks Conference and Expo, September 16-18, during a I2013. NEIWPCC coordinated the event, which brought together the whole meeting in spectrum of people in the nation devoted to issues related to underground Lowell. storage tanks. Attendees included federal, state and tribal representatives; engineers; contractors; and consultants. They attended sessions on everything from biofuels to remediation technologies, went on educational field trips, and frequented the Expo, which featured the latest tanks-related products and services. NEIWPCC reimbursed travel expenses for several staff from each of our member states so they could participate in this important event. We received a lot of positive feedback on the evaluation forms, including: “Excellent conference! Cutting-edge technical information presented that will help me better evaluate and more cost-effectively clean up my LUST sites.” The training programs and the video were among many subjects discussed during And: “This is the single most productive event that we have available. The the year by NEIWPCC’s Tanks Workgroup, which remained one of our busiest and combination of state and federal staff, owners, and vendors is unbelievable and most committed workgroups. The group, which is comprised of representatives from makes for an awesome learning process for me as a state program manager.” UST, LUST, and State Fund programs in our member states as well as EPA, met three To see the complete set of photos from the 2013 conference, visit our Flickr times in our Lowell offices. Other topics of discussion included the concern over page at www.flickr.com/photos/neiwpcc/sets/. The conference presentations UST compatibility with E15 (the new fuel containing 15 percent ethanol) and the are available at www.neiwpcc.org/tanksconference/. issue of tank linings. States are deciding whether lining a single-wall tank provides a level of environmental protection nearly equivalent to that provided by a double-wall tank. If so, single-wall tanks could potentially be allowed to remain in the ground longer than unlined tanks. The workgroup also assisted with preparations for the National Tanks Conference (next column). The National Tanks Conference begins with a breakfast plenary in a packed ballroom at the Denver Sheraton. NEIWPCC continued to do its part to keep the tanks community informed on UST and LUST matters through our development and dissemination of LUSTLine, the nationally distributed publication sent free of charge to The conference’s subscribing federal, state, and local Expo featured 46 government employees. The February booths displaying 2013 issue featured a cover article on tanks programs, a tank closure in Rhode Island with services, products, an unexpected challenge: evidence of and technologies. paranormal activity!
26 list of labs that do the preferred method of PPCP testing. During the workgroup’s Emerging Threats meeting early in the fiscal year, members heard compelling presentations from two special guests. Laurel Schaider of the Silent Spring Institute spoke about f you were looking to understand why there’s growing concern in our region inputs of contaminants of emerging concern into the Cape Cod aquifer from about pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) creeping into our onsite and centralized wastewater treatment systems. Russell Mankes, a former Iwaters, you didn’t have to look far from NEIWPCC’s home base. According professor at Albany Medical College, discussed hazardous pharmaceutical, cytotoxic to the Lowell Sun, testing of the water table surrounding two lakes in the Groton, antimetabolite, and antineoplastic drug disposal in the healthcare field. Massachusetts, area indicated the presence of five kinds of mostly prescription drugs, While much more remains to be learned about PPCPs in the environment, one including tranquilizers, nicotine, insect repellent, pain relievers, and medicines thing is clear: it’s far more efficient to keep them out of water than it will ever be needed to control seizures. The consultant who did the testing said there was no to remove them. For that reason, great attention is being paid at NEIWPCC and in evidence the trace amounts of PPCPs posed any harm. But they were there, as they our workgroup to two priorities: green chemistry and prudent prescribing methods. are in so many water bodies. In green chemistry, the design of chemical products and processes is done so as to To help our member states address concerns about these emerging contaminants, reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances. In prudent prescribing, NEIWPCC coordinates a PPCP Workgroup that brings together the leading state, doctors give patients only the amount of medication they will use. Consider that federal, and academic staff in our region who are working on the complicated during the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s November 2013 National Take-Back issues surrounding PPCPs in our waters. In 2013, the group’s activities included Day, Americans turned in 647,211 pounds of expired and unwanted medications. working on a set of instructions for water systems if they want to test for PPCPs; We’re all in favor of take-backs, which help keep drugs from being improperly the instructions will cover how to collect and prepare samples and will include a disposed of. But it would be far better if we didn’t need such events at all.
condensed, timely news. The issues in News and Information 2013 covered everything from a “Future of Water” panel discussion in Boston to insights t NEIWPCC, embracing our delivered at a conference by three men region’s challenges also means who played integral roles in developing EPA’s so-called Part 503 Rule, which for two Acommunicating about them. decades has had such a profound effect on the use and disposal of biosolids. Our print newsletter Interstate Water If you’re not already subscribed to receive IWR and iWR free-of-charge, visit our Report continues to provide articles that website at www.neiwpcc.org/iwr.asp. While there, we encourage you to view the vast examine issues in an in-depth manner amount of information elsewhere within the website, which provides a comprehensive rarely seen today. Our April 2013 and constantly updated issue, for example, featured a nearly window into our work. 14,000-word special report that dove NEIWPCC’s Mark Taylor deeply into the water-related impacts of is continually enhancing Hurricane Sandy and the February 2013 the site’s navigation, blizzard while exploring strategies for layout, and appearance. dealing with the anticipated increase in Users during the year the frequency and strength of intense would have noticed a wide storms. Articles in the October 2013 range of improvements, IWR included a feature on the often including Google-powered overlooked but very real threat posed by site search, a redesigned ocean acidification and an analysis of the annual report section that prospects in our region for nonpoint-to- contains a copy of every point source water quality trading. As always, all articles were written by NEIWPCC report NEIWPCC has ever staff and carefully assembled and edited to engage and inform. published, new staff and NEIWPCC also produces a quarterly email newsletter called iWR that emphasizes Commissioners pages that
Annual Report 2013 27 include photos and bios, and an online RFP submission form. (Mass.) wastewater treatment plant. The pictures showed an 8-month old bull Data gathered by Google Analytics reveal the site is visited by many web users— that ended up at the facility after escaping from a farm; plant staff helped capture and visited often. In fiscal 2013, our website had Boston Water and Sewer Commission the bull, which was brought safely home. During the 51,905 unique visitors—that is, individuals counted year, we also expanded our presence on the Web by only once, no matter how many times they visit a launching a page on Flickr, the image and video hosting site. The website’s popularity can be attributed to a website. Visit www.flickr.com/photos/neiwpcc/sets/ to number of factors including improved search engine see photographs of NEIWPCC events and activities. optimization. Overall, site traffic and usage were up Our Flickr page also includes more than 150 fascinating more than 18 percent over fiscal 2012. historical photos provided to us by NEIWPCC In the increasingly important realm of social Commissioner John Sullivan, chief engineer at the media, NEIWPCC maintained an active presence; Boston Water and Sewer Commission. our number of Twitter followers and Facebook likes increased significantly during the year, thanks to posts that grabbed attention and focused readers on important water news and developments in NEIWPCC’s work. This being social media, some posts were both An image from a series of historical photos provided to informative and fun, as in our popular Facebook album NEIWPCC by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and featuring photos we obtained from the Newburyport available for viewing on our Flickr page.
Urban Exposure reduction, public health threats, and safety procedures at a wastewater treatment plant. Field trips related to environmental science and water quality along with sk inner-city high school students about their career plans, and few will say college career counseling provided the students with a look at the opportunities they want to work in the water or wastewater industries. To spur greater available to them. Ainterest, NEIWPCC coordinates the Lowell Youth and the Environment With the exception of two years when funding cuts put the program on hold, Program, a summer program funded by EPA that introduces economically NEIWPCC has coordinated the Lowell YEP every summer since 1990, with help disadvantaged inner- from EPA, the Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility, the City of Lowell, and the Career city youth to career Center of Lowell. Regardless of whether the YEP graduates eventually work in the opportunities in water or wastewater fields, they come away from the program with practical skills environmental fields. and increased environmental awareness. During the 2013 program, five high school students worked at the Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility and rotated through different stations at the facility such as pretreatment, maintenance, and process control. The students gained extensive work experience and received The 2013 YEP students and NEIWPCC staff during a tour NEIWPCC also works to expose college students to career opportunities in the water academic training on of the MWRA’s Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant in environment field. In April 2013, NEIWPCC’s Tom Groves (center, front row) spoke to the chemical risks, toxics use Boston. American Society of Civil Engineers’ student chapter at UMass Lowell.
28 Productive Relationships
major way in which we at the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission serve our member states is by entering into Arelationships with organizations that target the needs of a specific area or water body. NEIWPCC’s role with these programs varies and is often invisible to those outside the organizations. But our involvement provides invaluable support. For many years, for example, we have been providing funding and staff to vital New York State Department of Environmental Conservation programs that work to protect, conserve, restore, and enhance the Hudson River and its estuary. And our longtime relationship with the Lake Champlain Basin Program has been a key factor in that organization’s important and impressive work to restore and protect the legendary lake and its watershed. In 2013, we moved ahead with two new relationships that only further underscore the value of NEIWPCC’s services in our region.
NEIWPCC Assistant Environmental Analyst At the IEC District Laboratory on Staten Interstate Environmental Amanda Rollizo records water quality meter Island, New York, NEIWPCC’s Inna readings during an Interstate Environmental Golberg tests water samples for biochemical Commission District Commission District sampling trip in Long oxygen demand, a key indicator of water Island Sound. quality. fter entering into a memorandum of agreement in 2012 to become temporary host of the Interstate Environmental Commission District, we Asolidified the relationship in fiscal 2013 as IEC’s staff officially became Approval Program accreditation granted through New York State and New Jersey NEIWPCC employees. Formed in 1936, IEC is a congressionally-authorized and is certified by Connecticut as an approved environmental laboratory. All interstate organization that assists New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut on a this accreditation means the lab is fully authorized at the highest levels to test wide range of air and water pollution matters. In 2013, our staff at the IEC District for microbiological parameters such as fecal coliform, Enterococcus, and E. coli; continued the monitoring that the organization has done in western Long Island inorganic chemistry parameters such as metals, solids, and minerals; as well as Sound for 23 straight years, complementing the monitoring done by Connecticut aggregate organic parameters such as oil and grease, biochemical oxygen demand, DEEP. From June through September, the staff performed 11 monitoring runs to and chemical oxygen demand. 22 monitoring stations, recording temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and In September 2013, NEIWPCC hired Bill Shadel, an experienced science clarity on a weekly basis. (Chlorophyll a was quantified bi-weekly.) educator, researcher, and environmental advocate, to oversee the IEC District’s In addition to ambient monitoring, IEC staff conduct inspections at pump staff and operations. Shadel is also working to identify priorities in the tri-state stations to ensure this aging infrastructure maintains efficiency and functionality area, diversify funding, and build new regional partnerships. Such work is key to and at wastewater treatment facilities to ensure compliance with health, safety, the success of the IEC District and is increasingly being emphasized. During the security, and regulatory requirements, including NPDES permits. Beyond the year, for example, IEC District staff organized and facilitated the Interstate Shared field work, the IEC District’s operations include its laboratory on the campus Waters Monitoring Summit to assess interagency coordination and communication of the College of Staten Island. The lab has National Environmental Laboratory on monitoring activities in the district’s waters.
Annual Report 2013 29 Narragansett Bay Estuary Lake Champlain Basin Program Program
n March 2013, NEIWPCC was selected as the new host of the Narragansett Bay n 2013, we marked the 20th anniversary of NEIWPCC’s close relationship with Estuary Program, which works to protect and preserve the bay and its watershed the Lake Champlain Basin Program, which works throughout the lake’s watershed Ithrough partnerships that conserve and restore natural resources, enhance water Ito reduce pollution loading and improve the lake’s water quality. LCBP’s many quality, and promote community involvement. The NBEP is part of the National partners include government agencies from Vermont, New York, and Quebec; federal Estuary Program, a national network of 28 programs working for collaborative agencies including EPA and the National Park Service; and watershed groups. Amid solutions for estuaries designated by the U.S. Congress to be of national significance all this support, NEIWPCC’s role is especially important: our staff in Lowell manage and critical importance. LCBP’s Grand Isle, Vermont, office staff and its financial resources. In our role as host, NEIWPCC worked with program partners to develop Among the many high- an annual workplan and secure grant funding from EPA, and we conducted an profile projects completed in extensive and successful effort to hire a highly qualified new director for the fiscal 2013 was the launch of program. Tom Borden’s previous positions include working in private practice as a redesigned LCBP website an attorney specializing in environmental and land use law and serving as deputy that is as visually appealing executive director and chief counsel at the New Jersey Highlands Council. A as almost any site on the NEIWPCC employee since October 2013, Borden manages day-to-day operations web and features major at NBEP’s Providence office and is working with NBEP’s management committee navigational improvements. and executive committee as well as NEIWPCC staff in Lowell on the development The program’s e-newsletter, and implementation of initiatives and partnerships related to such matters as water Casin’ the Basin, also received quality, stormwater mitigation, habitat protection, and climate change. a redesign along the theme of The NBEP has much on its agenda for 2014, including the hiring of additional the new website. Upgrades of staff and the development of a status and trends report for Narragansett Bay as well a physical nature were done as projects related to dissolved oxygen monitoring, water quality modeling, and as well; NEIWPCC’s LCBP restoration of diadromous fish passage. staff oversaw improvements to the Resource Room, a space within the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington, Vermont, where visitors learn about the basin and their role in protecting it. Other major achievements LCBP’s Ryan Mitchell, a NEIWPCC information officer, included publication of oversaw the impressive redesign of the program’s website. Flood Resilience in the Lake Champlain Basin and Upper Richelieu River, a report requested by New York, Vermont, and Quebec. Written by LCBP’s Stephanie Castle, a NEIWPCC environmental analyst, with plenty of support NEIWPCC’s Tom Borden (fourth from left, wearing tie) participates in a meeting of the from her LCBP colleagues, the report explored the impacts of major floods in recent Narragansett Bay Estuary Program’s management committee, which in 2013 was expanded years on communities around the basin and described potential ways to improve from 12 members to 26 to enable a greater variety of perspectives and a more regional flood resilience. Produced in English and French, the report was based on lessons approach. To the right of Borden is Judith Swift, director of the University of Rhode Island’s learned from a series of LCBP-coordinated workshops and conferences attended Coastal Institute and the new chair of the management committee. by local, state, and provincial officials; federal partners; NGOs; and others. During
30 Seeding Ideas
mid all its other activities, the Lake Champlain Basin Program also works to provide farms in New York and Vermont with the information they need to minimize nutrient runoff while sustaining Afarming viability. In the spring of 2013, LCBP’s Myra Lawyer, a NEIWPCC environmental analyst working as an agronomist with NYSDEC in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain basin, launched a series of meetings for farmers to inform them about lake-friendly farming practices. Aptly called Farming in the Basin, the effort relied on the much-appreciated cooperation of area farms to host the meetings. A key partner in the work, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Clinton County, contacted potential host farms and performed educational outreach, while Lawyer developed the meeting materials and conducted the demonstrations. County soil and water conservation districts and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service also assisted with the effort. Held at twilight to accommodate the farmers’ workdays, the meetings covered a range of nutrient management practices, including pasture management, precision feeding methods for reducing phosphorus brought onto a farm as feed, machines for planting crops without tilling the soil (no-till drills), and strategies for capturing the value of manure as fertilizer. Participants also learned about cover crops, which farmers can plant while fields are fallow to increase nutrient retention. The roots of cover crops prevent soil erosion and utilize excess nutrients in the soil, decreasing the potential for damaging The new and improved LCBP Resource Room at the ECHO runoff. As the year progressed, the initiative continued with county fair presentations and more meetings, Lake Aquarium and Science Center. The Resource Room and in the fall, Lawyer led a tour on two of the fields that had been aerially seeded with a cover crop. The is staffed seven days a week by members of NEIWPCC’s New York aerial seeding project was funded by NRCS and was similar to one initiated by LCBP and the LCBP staff who specialize in informing visitors of all ages University of Vermont on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain. Lawyer’s Farming in the Basin meetings about everything and anything to do with Lake Champlain, have resumed in 2014. including the threat posed by aquatic nuisance species and the benefits of using lake-friendly cleaning products. Note the banner at top; in 2013, the Resource Room celebrated receiving 250,000 visits since its opening in 2003.
LCBP’s Myra the year, LCBP also expanded its boat launch steward Lawyer, a program, through which seasonal employees talk NEIWPCC with boaters about preventing the spread of invasive environmental species and perform courtesy vessel inspections. And analyst, explains the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, nutrient managed by LCBP’s Bill Howland and Jim Brangan, retention hosted an International Heritage Summit in Montreal, strategies at which brought together organizations from across the the very first region to discuss ways to expand cultural heritage and Farming in the outdoor recreation-based tourism. Basin workshop, For an always busy organization, 2013 was an held in April exceptionally busy year for the Lake Champlain Basin 2013 in Peru, Program. For a full look at all its work, visit the new New York. website at www.lcbp.org.
Annual Report 2013 31 Other activities by NEIWPCC staff who work directly with LISS included Long Island Sound Study participation in a regionwide effort to collect post-Sandy data at surface elevation table (SET) stations to determine impacts of the storm on sediment accretion or years, NEIWPCC has assisted Connecticut, New York, and EPA Regions 1 and deposition in marshes along the Atlantic Coast. NEIWPCC’s Victoria O’Neill and 2 with efforts by the Long Island Sound Study (LISS), a multi-agency conducted SET monitoring work at four sites around Long Island Sound; she also Fpartnership, to increase public awareness of the value of the sound and build expanded a program that enlists middle school and high school students to assist support for its protection. This emphasis on stewardship of the sound has a rich with habitat restoration projects. Other important LISS-related work takes place at tradition. After all, Long Island Sound our Lowell headquarters, where NEIWPCC staff coordinate a review team of LISS is where Theodore Roosevelt (at right), partners that develops RFPs for projects and reviews proposals, selects contractors, the “Father of the National Wildlife and manages projects through to completion. In 2013, the award program funded Refuge System,” got his feet wet as seven enhancement projects through NEIWPCC on topics ranging from TMDL a teenage naturalist. We imagine the implementation support and nitrogen management to ecological economics. In former president would have approved October 2013, we initiated the process of implementing four new enhancement of the launch in 2013 of the Long projects, including one that will result in low-impact development and green Island Sound on-line Stewardship infrastructure design on land surrounding two of the 33 LIS stewardship sites. Atlas (www.lisstewardshipatlas.net), which features an interactive map with links to web pages on each of the 33 coastal areas designated by EPA, New National Park Service/Sagamore Hill National Historic Site National Park Service/Sagamore Hudson River Estuary York, and Connecticut as outstanding examples of places to protect and Program enjoy. Much of the content was provided by Robert Burg, a NEIWPCC information officer and the LISS communications coordinator, who also developed several other ince 1999, NEIWPCC has been providing staff and project management key publications and outreach products during the year. support to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s SHudson River Estuary Program, which works to protect and improve the Hudson River and its watershed, from the federal dam at Troy to upper New York Harbor. A number of our staff at the program work with NYSDEC’s Hudson River Fisheries Unit on sampling programs for anadromous fish, including the sonic tracking of adult Atlantic sturgeon. From 2006 to 2008, the staff implanted tags in captured sturgeon, and they’ve been following them ever since, gathering information about sturgeon movement and spawning locations. Unfortunately, the tags’ batteries are losing power, and the push was on in 2013 to gather as much data as possible before the batteries run out. The data have proven immensely helpful in identifying and protecting areas of importance to the sturgeon; restrictions are often placed on activity in those areas to avoid disturbing the fish. Our staff also continued work on a three-year river herring spawning stock monitoring program that began in 2012. Concerns are growing over coastal declines of river herring (alewife and blueback herring) stocks, and the goal of the study is to gather biological data needed to determine if river herring populations exist at sustainable levels in the Hudson. During the 2012 and 2013 sampling seasons, our staff collected data from over 12,500 river herring at more than 100 sampling sites; age data were collected and analyzed on more than 1,400 fish. NEIWPCC’s Victoria O’Neill monitoring one of three surface elevation table (SET) stations at Through our staff at the Hudson River Estuary Program and in Lowell, we also Flax Pond marsh in Old Field, New York. SETs provide long-term data on marsh elevation manage contracts for work in the region on watershed management, flood response changes to determine if marshes are able to keep pace with sea level rise. and mitigation, source water protection, and green infrastructure. Examples of
32 Network Monitors
or two members of NEIWPCC’s staff, Alene Onion and Gavin Lemley, extensive Fand important monitoring can be done without stepping outside. They coordinate the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS), a network of environmental monitoring stations distributed throughout the Hudson River watershed. The stations have sensors that record a suite of water quality and weather parameters every 15 minutes, then transmit the data in near real-time to www.hrecos.org, where users such as researchers and resource managers can download the information. The network is operated and funded by a consortium of government agencies, research institutions, and non-profits. The photo below shows one of several new HRECOS stations established NEIWPCC’s Wes Eakin (standing) cruises on the Hudson River using equipment to “listen” in 2013. As the first mobile buoy station in the network, it’s designed to for Atlantic sturgeon. In the water at the ends of the orange poles are hydrophones that allow continuously monitor water quality in the Mohawk River downstream of Utica, for tracking of sturgeon using data relayed by tags implanted in the fish (inset). By matching New York. Stormwater runoff often overwhelms Utica’s aging wastewater the data up with sophisticated river-bottom maps generated by NEIWPCC’s John Ladd, infrastructure, triggering combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that result in high researchers are learning which areas of the river are seasonally important to the fish and amounts of organic material (raw sewage) being released into the Mohawk therefore warrant habitat protection measures. River. The buoy is equipped with sensors for detecting environmental responses that are indicative of such events, such as decreases in dissolved oxygen and new contract activity in 2013 included projects initiated to provide recreational increases in conductivity. The data can be used in combination with CSO and visual access to the Hudson River estuary and its tributary streams for records to aid in developing a model for CSO detection. environmental justice neighborhoods that lack access to the waters. Other work With 2013 marking the fifth year of HRECOS operations, an external panel is focusing on developing a plan of experts conducted a review of the system. Successfully completed in the to identify scientific and technical fall, the review yielded useful feedback that HRECOS managers will use in research necessary to advance the formulating a vision for the next five years of the network. understanding of potential coastal green infrastructure strategies in New York City under sea-level rise scenarios. A HRECOS buoy in the Mohawk River monitors dissolved oxygen and conductivity During an outreach event at Black Creek, as a means of a Hudson River tributary, NEIWPCC’s detecting combined Bobby Adams helps a high school student sewer overflows collect biological data on a river herring. that may have Adams is among the NEIWPCC staff occurred upstream who collect data on river herring in in Utica, the Hudson River estuary as part of a New York. spawning stock monitoring program.
Annual Report 2013 33 funded by NYSDEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program in partnership with NEIWPCC. Hudson River National As designed, the projects will incorporate ecological shoreline treatments, such as the addition of plantings and the construction of gentler slopes, that will protect public Estuarine Research Reserve property while enhancing natural habitat and encouraging public use. In conjunction with Miller’s work, NEIWPCC’s Hauser has overseen an effort to perated as a partnership between New York State and the National Oceanic develop case studies about sites where work similar to that being designed for Cold and Atmospheric Administration, the Hudson River National Estuarine Spring and Nyack has already been done. An online compilation of the case studies, OResearch Reserve (HRNERR) encompasses four tidal wetland sites that are available on HRNERR’s website, provides a virtual tour of six shoreline sites that designated as field laboratories for estuarine research, stewardship, and education. show how ecologically-engineered structures can prevent or reduce shore erosion For years, NEIWPCC has supported staff who work with the reserve, and in 2013, while emulating the physical and biological conditions of naturally occurring stable two such staff—Daniel Miller and Emilie Hauser—continued their work on New shorelines. York State DEC’s important and influential Hudson River Sustainable Shorelines project. The project is providing science-based information about shoreline management options, and one way it’s doing so is by developing demonstration projects. In 2013, the Sustainable Shorelines team initiated the design phase of two such projects: one at a park in Cold Spring, New York, and the other at Nyack Beach State Park. In both cases, the parks are popular with the public but suffer from eroding Hudson River shorelines brought on by damage sustained during Tropical Storms Lee and Irene and Hurricane Sandy. NEIWPCC’s Miller is managing the projects, which are being
The Hudson River shoreline at Nyack Beach State Park, heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy’s surge, is one of two sites selected for demonstration projects that will highlight the benefits of ecological treatments to slow erosion. NEIWPCC’s Dan Miller is managing the work, which is currently in the design phase.
34 New York-New Jersey Peconic Estuary Program Harbor & Estuary Program ince 2006, NEIWPCC has provided staff and project management support to the Peconic Estuary Program, which works to protect and restore Long Island’s ince 2003, NEIWPCC has assisted the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary SPeconic Bays. NEIWPCC’s Julie Nace, who is based at the New York State DEC Program in its work to protect, conserve, and restore the estuary. NEIWPCC office in East Setauket, helps coordinate the program and its vital water quality and Sstaff manage grants and contracts for the program; in fiscal year 2013, this habitat management efforts. In 2013, Nace continued to finalize an inter-municipal work once again included the awarding and tracking of small grants for stewardship agreement between municipalities in the watershed. The agreement would allow and public access. The grants support projects ranging from a citizen science eel- cost savings and greater information-sharing to help better meet stormwater runoff monitoring program in the Bronx to a series of public estuary-focused boat tours out requirements and, in the process, improve water quality. of Newark, New Jersey. We also manage multiple habitat restoration grants, which Nace also continued to coordinate habitat restoration projects, the creation of in 2013 included initial investigations into the feasibility of wetlands restoration and subwatershed management plans, and various work on controlling invasive aquatic public access development at Sunset Cove in Broad Channel, a neighborhood on an species. One of the program’s priorities is to improve storm resiliency in coastal areas island in New York City’s Jamaica Bay. of the Peconic Estuary watershed; this has led to a series of efforts related to wetlands Helping to implement some of these grants were our two NEIWPCC staff restoration, vulnerability assessments, and land protection strategies. The Peconic members—Kate Boicourt and Gabriela Munoz—who work directly with NY-NJ Estuary Program has also renewed its focus on reducing nitrogen pollution to the HEP. Their work during the year included coordinating an event called Hooked estuary, which has resulted in a number of initiatives, including the creation of a on Our Waters, which focused on making wise choices about fish consumption; nitrogen workgroup to assess and reduce nutrient loading. disseminating New Jersey DEP fish consumption materials in several New Jersey communities, particularly those with waterfront parks where many people fish; and the hosting of a citizen science water quality monitoring workshop. In close partnership with EPA, NJDEP, and NYSDEC, the staff also embarked on a citizen science project aimed at providing the tools needed to generate high-quality data with a focus on pathogen indicators in tributaries to the New York-New Jersey Harbor estuary. Data collection for this project will take place in the summer of 2014.
In Riverhead, New York, young citizen scientists, led by retired NYSDEC marine fisheries biologist Byron Young, participate in monitoring of the population of alewife, a species of river herring that returns to Long Island each spring to spawn in the freshwater rivers. NEIWPCC NEIWPCC’s Kate Boicourt (center) participates in work to investigate restoring wetlands and staff at the Peconic Estuary Program and Long Island Sound Study help coordinate this developing public access sites at Sunset Cove in Broad Channel, Queens. volunteer monitoring effort, which is overseen by the Seatuck Environmental Association.
Annual Report 2013 35 array of work. This included river sampling for EPA’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment; through this support, NEIWPCC is enabling Rhode Island to contribute to Direct Assistance this significant EPA study in which information is being collected on water chemistry, biological health, and physical and human disturbance at randomly selected locations, some of which have never been assessed before. Other work by our staff included n 2013, NEIWPCC continued to assist our member states by providing oversight of the state’s ambient river monitoring program, implementation of RIDEM’s staff who work directly with state agencies in a wide variety of ways. multi-year rotating river basin survey program, and coordination of macroinvertebrate Through these staff, we provide specific skills and expertise that the sampling and habitat assessments, which led to development of a preliminary I index of biological integrity to advance biocriteria development and improve future states require to address their water-related priorities. It’s an arrangement bioassessments. The staff also collected field data on aquatic invasive species to make that works well for all involved; the states get the help they need, and at assessments and inform the public on the extent of their spread. NEIWPCC, we get the satisfaction of knowing our staff are contributing As she has done for several years, NEIWPCC’s Sawyers assisted in the development directly to the states’ efforts to reach their clean water goals. of numeric nutrient criteria for Rhode Island’s waters; the work in 2013 focused on Over the years, the work of these staff members has often led them into statistical analysis of lake data and development of potential criteria, and, as always, the the field to conduct studies that add to our understanding of water resources nutrient criteria development process involved significant internal and external vetting and how best to protect them. In other cases, the staff perform critical agency of the analysis through presentations and discussions. In a related activity, Sawyers continued fieldwork to address the need for information on algae, plants, and habitat work that goes on behind the scenes and enables an agency’s more visible operations to function effectively and efficiently. Regardless of the specific nature of the work, the end result is the same—to help our member states make the progress that needs to be made.
Rhode Island Monitoring
EIWPCC continues to assist Rhode Island DEM by Nproviding technical support to its water monitoring and assessment program. Working directly with RIDEM, NEIWPCC’s Katie DeGoosh, Mark Nimiroski, and Jane Sawyers engaged in their typically extensive
NEIWPCC staff are key members of the Rhode Island team that is conducting sampling for EPA’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment. At the West River, NEIWPCC’s Jane Sawyers (standing) is assisting Rhode Island in evaluating ways to NEIWPCC’s Mark Nimiroski (right) and measure algal growth in streams. This is challenging in low gradient streams, which seldom RIDEM’s Alan Libby employ the technique have an abundance of the rocks and sticks needed by algae as growth surfaces. To get known as electrofishing. Electricity is used around the problem, Sawyers placed artificial substrates in selected streams for about four to temporarily stun fish so researchers can weeks, then removed them to collect the accumulated growth. (The before-and-after photos capture and study the fish before returning above show the substrate in Crookfall Brook in Lincoln.) In all locations, the substrates are them unharmed to the water. put in the water at the same depth to allow for comparability between streams.
36 in Rhode Island’s streams. For nutrient criteria development, it is critical to collect data RFP development, and metrics reporting. This is only a partial list as space doesn’t on how biological communities, especially algae, respond to nutrients, but states across permit the highlighting of each staff members’ many achievements. But the work the country have struggled with how to appropriately measure this response. To help done by Chris Lassell merits special mention. Rhode Island explore its options, Sawyers conducted analysis of several different field As a NEIWPCC employee working out of NYSDEC’s Region 5 offices in Ray methods to quantify Rhode Island’s population of algae and aquatic plants. Brook, Lassell has since 2003 focused on water quality complaint investigations related to the SPDES Construction Stormwater program and on inspections at wastewater treatment plants and stormwater general permit facilities. As part of this work in 2013, Lassell found himself monitoring construction by the utility Enbridge Service to New York St. Lawrence Gas to install a 48-mile natural gas pipeline from Norfolk, New York, to Chateaugay, New York. or many years, NEIWPCC has employed staff who work directly with New While the bulk of the work on such projects falls under the jurisdiction of New York State DEC’s Division of Water, and in 2013, their work encompassed a York State’s Public Service Commission, stormwater discharges from construction ac- Fmultitude of responsibilities. The work included management of grants to tivities are regulated under the Clean Water Act. Hence, it was NYSDEC’s responsibility communities for implementation of projects related to nonpoint source pollution, to ensure that work on the pipeline adhered to permit conditions pertaining to con- wastewater treatment, and aquatic habitat restoration; development of database struction stormwater—and when crews were working in Region 5, that responsibility applications to process Division of Water permit applications and compliance fell to Lassell. The oversight proved critical. Lassell spent many days on-site addressing monitoring; and extensive work on issues related to the New York City watershed issues of concern and working with project managers and contractors to prevent sed- program, Lake Champlain Basin Program, and Chesapeake Bay Regulatory and iment runoff into adjacent streams and wetlands. It all goes to show that the watchful Accountability Grants Program, including project management, contractual issues, eye of an expert can be a powerful factor in ensuring environmental protection.
Work on a new natural gas pipeline in New York State had to comply with the project’s SPDES general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activity. NEIWPCC’s Chris Lassell, who took these photos, monitored permit compliance as the work passed through NYSDEC’s Region 5. At left, workers minimize disturbance to a stream by installing the gas line beneath the stream’s channel, which was temporarily diverted through the black pipe. At right, a crew employs horizontal directional drilling to install pipe in a sensitive area where trenching wasn’t permitted.
Annual Report 2013 37 Monitoring the Gains City and New York State, and it’s the job of two NEIWPCC staff members based in New York—Linda Allen and Paul Kenline—to monitor efforts to comply he national goals of the Clean Water Act are to achieve, wherever with the consent order. Over the past five years, Allen and Kenline have seen attainable, water quality that provides for the protection and propagation tangible improvements in water quality directly related to consent order-driven Tof fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water. projects. The photo of Hendrix Creek below, taken by our staff, is a clear Considerable progress has been made to achieve these goals in water bodies example of the results they’re seeing. in and around New York City, but one problem that remains is combined In addition to CSO abatement, New York City is working to reduce nitrogen sewer overflows—that is, discharges of untreated sewage that occur when a discharges to large open water bodies—discharges that can cause algae blooms sewer system that carries both wastewater and stormwater is overwhelmed by and hypoxic conditions. Under a consent judgment with New York State, the flow. While CSOs have impacted many of the city’s waters, such as Flushing city is upgrading wastewater treatment plants to implement biological nutrient Bay, Bronx River, Hutchinson River, and Newtown Creek, the good news is removal technology to reduce nitrogen loadings to Long Island Sound and something’s being done about it. Actually, a lot of things. Jamaica Bay. The progress on these upgrades and compliance with the consent To date, New York City has implemented numerous projects to reduce judgment is monitored by Lindsey Walaski, a NEIWPCC staff member based in CSOs, including construction of overflow storage tanks at Paerdegat Basin, Albany. Walaski reports that the city has completed the first phase of the work, Flushing Creek, Spring Creek, and Alley Creek. The projects are being and in 2013, finished a major upgrade at the Wards Island WWTP. The result: a implemented under the auspices of a CSO consent order between New York significant reduction in nitrogen loadings.
After being dredged to remove CSO sediments, Hendrix Creek in New York City is a NEIWPCC’s independent environmental monitors (left to right): Paul Kenline, Lindsey different water body; odors have been sharply reduced and the appearance dramatically Walaski, and Linda Allen. improved.
38 A Lake in Need Maine Drinking Water
or Aimee Clinkhammer, a new NEIWPCC environmental analyst, the task of Support cleaning up Onondaga Lake is a challenge she has fully embraced. Since joining our t the Maine Department of team in August 2013 as Onondaga Lake watershed coordinator, Clinkhammer has F Health and Human Services’ worked with community groups, businesses, and local government agencies in a unified Drinking Water Program, im- effort to accelerate the progress made in restoring this Central New York lake with a long A portant assistance is provided by two toxic history. NEIWPCC staff members. Martha For centuries, Onondaga Lake has been considered sacred by the Onondagas and Nadeau does a tremendous amount other Native American tribes, but industrialization severely tarnished its waters. In recent of data management in her work years, water quality has improved, thanks to the combined efforts of key stakeholders as a liaison between the program’s as well as the unique collaboration between federal, state, and local entities including Compliance Enforcement Team the Onondaga Nation under the Onondaga Lake Watershed Partnership (OWLP). and its Information Management An Access application developed by Clinkhammer is now building on that hard work. Based out of NYSDEC’s Region 7 Team. She generates compliance NEIWPCC’s David Welch significantly office, she is helping to develop a shared community vision for the restoration of the reports for the enforcement team’s eases the task of generating consumer lake’s watershed and its physical, chemical, and biological integrity. Her initial efforts review, then issues violations if need confidence e-reports for Maine’s have focused on assisting with the development of a principles document and planning be. David Welch works as part of a community water systems. community events that inform the public about the restoration process and the history team that handles quality control in of the lake. And momentum is building. Case in point: Experts from EPA, NYSDEC, the the Drinking Water Program. This New York State Attorney General’s Office, Onondaga County, City of Syracuse, Onondaga team also supports all needs with Nation, and the U.S. Geological Survey are convening a panel to develop a strategy regards to EPA’s Safe Drinking Water to reduce sediment loading, with a particular focus on managing the proliferation of Information System (SDWIS), which sediment-producing mudboils in Onondaga County’s Tully Valley. provides information about public Clinkhammer’s many other activities have included developing a communications plan water systems and any violations of for the OLWP that has already resulted in her launch of a website (www.olwp.org) and a EPA’s drinking water regulations, as communications group to assist with OWLP outreach activities. It’s all a lot of work done reported to EPA by states. To support in a short bit of time, but then, this responsibility, Welch developed there’s a lot at stake. Onondaga an Access application that he uses Lake means a great deal to a to generate, directly from data in great many people. It’s only SDWIS, consumer confidence right that we do all we can to e-reports for each of Maine’s roughly make it beautiful again. 375 community water systems. Welch is also managing the Drinking Water Program’s migration NEIWPCC’s Aimee to a digital filing system, no small task. The multiple-year project involves Clinkhammer on the shores of processing into a digital format all the files related to about 1,900 public Onondaga Lake, the focus of water systems, from transient supplies (such as campgrounds) to major her restoration efforts. Far in water utilities. NEIWPCC and Maine DHHS have entered into several new the background is one of the agreements that will allow our staff to continue providing this Drinking hydraulic dredges being used to Water Program assistance into 2014. NEIWPCC and Maine DHHS also remove contaminated sediments entered into a new agreement for NEIWPCC to hire a contractor to provide from the lake bottom. technical support related to hydrology, compliance, enforcement, and program operations for the Drinking Water Program.
Annual Report 2013 39 Quality Management Quality Work in Massachusetts s this annual report makes abundantly clear, one of the many ways in which we serve our member n Massachusetts, NEIWPCC’s Richard Chase has states is by coordinating projects that generate environmental data. Those data often drive made it a mission to ensure that any data produced important decisions about such matters as the merit of a strategy or the extent of a problem. Good A by the MassDEP Division of Watershed Management’s data lead to good decisions. Therefore, the quality of the data must be assured. I Watershed Planning Program is of the highest possible To that end, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that any organization receiving funds quality. Chase manages Watershed Planning’s Quality from the agency for the collection of environmental data have an EPA-approved Quality Management Assurance Program, in support of Clean Water Act Plan. NEIWPCC has had such a QMP in place since 2001, and in early 2013, we received EPA approval data collection, water body health assessment, and for our latest version. The QMP describes NEIWPCC’s system for planning, implementing, documenting, TMDL development. His work in 2013 covered a lot and assessing data collection to ensure the quality of the information generated by a project. The QMP of important ground: he participated in water quality also spells out our commitment to developing quality assurance project plans (QAPPs) for each project surveys; evaluated new instrumentation; performed involving the collection of environmental data or the evaluation of environmental technology. instrument calibrations and checks; managed laboratory A QAPP describes how a project’s data are to be collected, analyzed, assessed, stored, and reported, contracts and coordinated lab audits; assisted in and at NEIWPCC, we see a lot of QAPPs. In fiscal 2013, Michael Jennings, NEIWPCC’s quality assurance validating collected data; provided training as needed program manager (and our director of water resource protection programs) reviewed, revised, and to staff; developed and reviewed draft quality assurance approved 20 separate QAPPs covering a variety of projects to be done by NEIWPCC staff or a contractor project plans, standard operating procedures, technical we hired. And the job doesn’t end with a QAPP’s approval. To ensure that the promise of quality data reports, and data submittals for projects; and participated is upheld, field assessments are conducted periodically to verify that approved procedures are being in various program planning committees. During followed. In August 2013, Jennings accompanied NEIWPCC staff at the Interstate Environmental 2013, Chase also marked his tenth year as a member of Commission District as they collected data in Long Island Sound associated with a project and QAPP NEIWPCC’s staff. entitled Ambient Water Quality Monitoring in the NEIWPCC (IEC District) Waterways. We’re pleased to report that all fieldwork observed in association with this monitoring effort was conducted in accordance with the approved QAPP and that no non-conformances were noted. The result continued a welcome trend; all NEIWPCC field assessments conducted to date have come to the same positive conclusion. NEIWPCC’s commitment to quality management is also evident during our annual meeting each summer in Lowell that brings together all our staff from throughout our member states. At the 2013 meeting, Jennings delivered a training session on quality assurance awareness, something he has done every year at the all-staff meeting since 2009. For more on our quality assurance work and to access a copy of NEIWPCC’s Quality Management Plan, visit www.neiwpcc.org/quality.
NEIWPCC’s Evelyn Powers (left) and Amanda In March 2013, NEIWPCC’s Richard Chase prepares to sample Rollizo of the Interstate Environmental Commission the waters of White Island Pond in southeastern Massachusetts District collect water samples in western Long Island prior to the application of aluminum sulfate (alum) to the pond. Sound. The photo was taken during a NEIWPCC The chemical application was one of the strategies employed to field assessment that confirmed they were properly control phosphorus concentrations in order to meet the limit set following procedures outlined in the project’s quality by the White Island Pond TMDL. assurance project plan.
40 Considering the economic climate and rising costs across the board, fiscal 2013 was a good year financially for NEIWPCC, with total revenue exceeding total operating Financial Information expenses. This resulted in an increase in net assets, which provide a reserve for the organization to draw upon if necessary to temporarily support operations. Independent auditors perform an audit of NEIWPCC’s annual financial statements, as required by our compact and our various grants and contracts. The audit is From the Comptroller conducted in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. his page contains the results of the latest audit of NEIWPCC’s program Linda Agostinelli, C.P.A. revenue and expenditures for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013. The NEIWPCC Comptroller TCommission is a not-for-profit organization, exempt from taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We continue to receive a sizable portion of our funding from the United States New England Interstate Water Environmental Protection Agency in the form of grants and cooperative agreements. Pollution Control Commission From our member states, we receive direct financial support in the form of annual dues as well as substantial funding for projects pertaining to specific water bodies. Among Statement of Program Activities our other sources of revenue are our training and certification programs, including Year Ended September 30, 2013 those we conduct for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Maine. Revenue Fees generated by the Massachusetts and Maine programs are shown on the statement Federal Grants...... $7,828,849 of program activities as separate sources of revenue. Member State Support...... 148,664 This year, NEIWPCC assumed fiduciary responsibility for the Interstate Environmental Commission (a joint agency of the states of Connecticut, New Jersey, Member State Support-IEC...... 14,821 and New York) as a means of preserving IEC as a congressionally approved, viable, and State Contracts...... 2,679,839 effective organization. IEC was established in 1936 for the purpose of protecting its Training...... 690,383 jurisdictional waters and the environment of its district in a regional manner. Interest Income ...... 4,350 Donated Services...... 917,003 Other Income...... 53,057 Other Contracts...... 1,922,256 MA/ME License Renewal Fees ...... 326,302 MA/ME Certification Exam Fees...... 30,307
Total Revenue ...... 14,615,831 Operating Expenditures...... 14,475,461 Investment Income...... 15,631 Change in Net Assets...... $156,001
This annual report is a product of the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission 650 Suffolk Street, Suite 410, Lowell, MA 01854 Phone: 978-323-7929 • Email: [email protected] • Web: www.neiwpcc.org Editor: Stephen Hochbrunn, NEIWPCC • Writers: Stephen Hochbrunn and Anna Meyer, NEIWPCC, NEIWPCC’s accomplished financial team (left to right): Jean Quigley, accountant; Linda with contributions from NEIWPCC staff (special thanks to Kristen Fitzpatrick) Agostinelli, comptroller; Dick Kotelly, treasurer; Patti Brady, accountant. Graphic design: Newcomb Studios • All photos by NEIWPCC except where noted.
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