QUOTE
City OKs ordinances to control toxic runoff
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
The City Council unanimously approved three ordinances Tuesday aimed at better controlling toxic runoff going into Trail Creek and Lake Michigan.
The three ordinances, required by Indiana Code, are designed to “prohibit illicit discharges into MS4 conveyances and establish appropriate enforcement procedures and actions,” “establish a construction program that controls polluted run-off from construction activities with a land disturbance greater than or equal to one acre,” and “implement planning procedures to promote improved water quality ... through, at a minimum, the post-construction requirements of a post-construction storm water pollution prevention plan.”
In short, said Al Walus, Michigan City Sanitary District general manager, the ordinances deal with regulating illicit discharges and connections to storm drainage systems, regulating erosions and sediment control from construction projects and regulating post-construction activity and stormwater management.”
The three ordinances are included in a six-part plan mandated in 2003 by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to create stormwater management programs for MS4 cities.
The plan is aimed at reducing pollution in urban stormwater runoff.
Michigan City was classified an MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems) city in 2003, meaning the sanitary district operates storm sewers and drainage ditches that convey storm water directly to Trail Creek and Lake Michigan, Walus said.
As an MS4 city, Michigan City was required to develop a stormwater management program. Federal regulations require the program to adhere to six mandatory elements that include educating and reaching out to the public, participating in, and being involved with, the public on pollution issues, detecting and eliminating illicit discharges, ensuring control of runoff from construction sites, regulating post-construction runoff and preventing pollution and doing “good housekeeping.”
Walus said Michigan City, LaPorte, Trail Creek, Long Beach and LaPorte County jointly meet requirement No. 1 and 2, and the city itself meets requirement No. 6. The ordinances passed Tuesday will allow the city to meet requirements No. 3-5.
“We're all working off the same template,” Mike Hoffman, with the district, told council members. “There are approximately 141 entities of government in Indiana that must pass these.”
Walus said Tuesday a biennial summary of state surveys of water quality called the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory showed approximately 40 percent of surveyed American bodies of water are still polluted and don't meet water quality standards.
He said a major source of that number is polluted runoff. According to the inventory, Walus said, 13 percent of polluted rivers, 18 percent of polluted lakes and 32 percent of polluted estuaries are affected by urban or suburban stormwater runoff.
The council accepted amendments to the ordinances changing the amount of money charged as fines to violators of the ordinance. The original wording established a fine of “no less than $2,500.”
The council amended that to read “no more than $2,500.”
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
The City Council unanimously approved three ordinances Tuesday aimed at better controlling toxic runoff going into Trail Creek and Lake Michigan.
The three ordinances, required by Indiana Code, are designed to “prohibit illicit discharges into MS4 conveyances and establish appropriate enforcement procedures and actions,” “establish a construction program that controls polluted run-off from construction activities with a land disturbance greater than or equal to one acre,” and “implement planning procedures to promote improved water quality ... through, at a minimum, the post-construction requirements of a post-construction storm water pollution prevention plan.”
In short, said Al Walus, Michigan City Sanitary District general manager, the ordinances deal with regulating illicit discharges and connections to storm drainage systems, regulating erosions and sediment control from construction projects and regulating post-construction activity and stormwater management.”
The three ordinances are included in a six-part plan mandated in 2003 by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to create stormwater management programs for MS4 cities.
The plan is aimed at reducing pollution in urban stormwater runoff.
Michigan City was classified an MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems) city in 2003, meaning the sanitary district operates storm sewers and drainage ditches that convey storm water directly to Trail Creek and Lake Michigan, Walus said.
As an MS4 city, Michigan City was required to develop a stormwater management program. Federal regulations require the program to adhere to six mandatory elements that include educating and reaching out to the public, participating in, and being involved with, the public on pollution issues, detecting and eliminating illicit discharges, ensuring control of runoff from construction sites, regulating post-construction runoff and preventing pollution and doing “good housekeeping.”
Walus said Michigan City, LaPorte, Trail Creek, Long Beach and LaPorte County jointly meet requirement No. 1 and 2, and the city itself meets requirement No. 6. The ordinances passed Tuesday will allow the city to meet requirements No. 3-5.
“We're all working off the same template,” Mike Hoffman, with the district, told council members. “There are approximately 141 entities of government in Indiana that must pass these.”
Walus said Tuesday a biennial summary of state surveys of water quality called the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory showed approximately 40 percent of surveyed American bodies of water are still polluted and don't meet water quality standards.
He said a major source of that number is polluted runoff. According to the inventory, Walus said, 13 percent of polluted rivers, 18 percent of polluted lakes and 32 percent of polluted estuaries are affected by urban or suburban stormwater runoff.
The council accepted amendments to the ordinances changing the amount of money charged as fines to violators of the ordinance. The original wording established a fine of “no less than $2,500.”
The council amended that to read “no more than $2,500.”