Page 14 - Port of Baltimore Magazine Nov/Dec 2012

[12] The Port of Baltimore ■ November/December 2012 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
Environmental Stewardship at the Port of Baltimore > > > GreenPort
BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON
KATHY BERGREN SMITH
Protecting Bay’s Health
Gets Loads of Help
T MDL is a small acronym with big
ramifications for the Chesapeake
Bay — and for the Port of Baltimore.
It stands for Total Maximum
Daily Load, and refers to the amount of
pollution a body of water can receive and
still meet water quality standards.
The Clean Water Act requires states
to assess their water bodies and develop
TMDLs for the pollutants found to cause
impairments.
In 2009, President Obama signed
Executive Order 13508 on Chesapeake
Bay Protection and Restoration,
emphasizing the ongoing importance
of the 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake
Bay watershed, the largest estuary in
the United States. All pollution-reduction
practices needed to restore the Bay’s
health must be in place by 2025, and at
least 60 percent of the required actions
must be completed by 2017.
The primary focus is on three pollutants
— nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
However, additional TMDLs can be
established for specific water bodies.
The Maryland Port Administration
(MPA) recognizes the importance of
protecting the Chesapeake Bay and is
preparing an implementation plan to
reduce TMDLs. An issue at the Port is
reduction strategies.
Although the MDE has not set
pollution-reduction goals yet, “we know
it’s coming and we’re preparing our plan,”
said Bill Richardson, MPA Environmental
Manager. “Knowing these pollution-control
requirements are coming, we’re looking for
the most cost-effective, efficacious ways to
get this done.”
The MPA has identified best manage-
ment practices (BMPs) to reduce
pollutants, is developing its implemen-
tation plan and is exploring different
technologies. The MPA currently operates
street sweepers and regularly cleans out
storm drains.
“Our inspection program allows us
to identify and prioritize inlet cleanings,”
Richardson said. “We also have oil and
water separators, sand filters, sediment
ponds and various other structural BMPs.
We have a variety of those, and it requires
ongoing inspection and maintenance.”
He added that the MPA is also looking at
“outside-the-box technologies,” not yet
adopted as widespread practice but that
show promise, such as floating wetlands
and other nutrient uptake technologies.
reducing or collecting the dirt generated
by normal operations, which, when left
on paved surfaces, can be swept by
heavy rains into the storm drains. The
marine terminals, consisting of mostly
paved surfaces, have hundreds of storm
drain inlets and miles of pipes to channel
storm water; this requires ongoing
inspection and maintenance to ensure
that the stormwater system is working as
designed.
The MPA is considered a small
municipal storm sewer system (MS4) and
has a discharge permit from the Maryland
Department of the Environment (MDE),
known as an MS4 Phase II permit for
federal and state facilities. Under the MS4
permit, the MDE will establish pollution-
reduction goals for TMDLs, and the MPA
will be required to comply with them.
The first step, already under way, is
to benchmark the amount and sources
of potential pollutants and identify
The marine terminals have hundreds of storm
drain inlets and miles of pipes that require
ongoing inspection and maintenance. The
MPA operates street sweepers and regularly
cleans out storm drains.