The Stormwater Blogs

It will be interesting how this association will evolve. During ETV/NSF Protocol Verification of which Griffin was directly and intimately involved, no one would agree to a "STANDARD". Who and what will the sets the standards on BMP's still remains critical in the acceptance by local permitting agencies.

I have participated on the development of the state of Washington process to assess new stormwater BMPs called Technology Assessment Protocol - Ecology (TAPE) from the beginning. This protocol has been praised and criticized by many in the state of Washington. It was developed as an attempt to have a uniform evaluation of stormwater BMPs using real data and considering operation and maintenance issues near and dear to a owner in the state of Washington. The reviewers on TAPE are predominantly municipal stormwater managers, scientists and engineers. This group made recommendations on the acceptance of new BMPs to the State Department of Ecology. I encourage the Industry to do it themselves; objectively report how their BMPs perform using science and the appropriate statistical analyses recommended by undisputed authorities such as, Dr. Robert Pitt University of Alabama; how long they perform; report accurate installation and operation and maintenance costs. The most challenging aspect for this group will be on they demonstrate to municipal officials that their standards, are prepared by indepent 3rd party professionals not influenced by the manufacturers or municipal officials. I hope they are successfu and put the TAPE committtee out of work! I have worked for a local government stormwater authority for the last 20 years or so. I know this will not be easy. Rick Watson, P.E. Bellevue Utilities Water Resource Engineer

The Standards can be effectively created by following the developed operation and maintenance plans for each of the BMPs with preventative maintenance, professional oversight in a transparent manner. With a national service capability and a 20 year track record for environmental services we are willing and able to work with the industry association on a verification program for the Industry's BMP performance immediately. We know with proper maintenance and protection of the entire sites' assets that, overall costs associated with the Stormwater treatment and compliance portion of their budget can be effectively managed and verified. Gaps in regular inspections and smaller site repairs ultimately create the opportunity for catastrophic failure and higher aberrations to costs of the BMP treatment train. I believe that Preventative Maintenance Events are needed to bring the Standards into view and the Industry into an advancing "proactive" position rather than a reactive one. Sorry to have missed the meeting at StormCon, I was not aware of it in time to attend. Rob Liguori, Program Director SW Operations - APEX Companies LLC