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ThePort of Baltimore
■
March/April 2014
MasonvilleCove,whichhasbeen
successfully transformed froma
DredgedMaterial Containment
Facility into anature-recreation
and environmental-education
destination, hasbeenofficially
designatedby theU.S. Fishand
WildlifeService as thenation’s first
UrbanWildlifeRefugePartnership.
“MostAmericans havegrownup
without a real connection to the
outdoors andwildlife, and the
UrbanWildlifeRefuge Initiative
givesus a chance to change that,”
saidDanAshe, Director, U.S. Fish
andWildlife Service.
Situated alongside thePatapsco
River, theMasonvilleCove
NatureAreawas opened in 2012
As part of its stewardshipof theChesapeakeBay— the
largest estuary in the United States — the Maryland Port
Administration (MPA)developedand is implementing itsWater
QualityManagement Plan (WQMP)withaneye toward further
reducing the impact of stormwater runoff from its facilities.
Under theWQMP, the MPA is working with state and
local partners tomeet federallymandated goals for water
quality, knownas TotalMaximumDaily Loads (TMDLs). The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets specific
limits for pollutants that enter the bay and the rivers that
feed it. The requirement to reduce the nutrient TMDLs
(nitrogen, phosphorus and total suspended sediments)
was established followinga2009ExecutiveOrder signedby
President Barack Obama to protect and restore the health
of the Chesapeake Bay.
“We recognize the importance of a clean and healthy
Chesapeake Bay, and the MPA will continue to develop
initiatives necessary to improve the water quality,” said
Barbara McMahon, MPAManager, Safety, Environment &
RiskManagement.
The WQMP has many components that were useful in
determining the strategy necessary for reducing TMDLs.
They include:
h
Inventory
of existing stormwater controls, delineation
of drainage areas, and calculations of both impervious and
pervious treated anduntreated areas.
h
Modeling
of existingnutrient and sediment loads and
an estimate of pollutant reductions from existing and
future stormwater treatment controls.
h
Analysis
of stormwater retrofits andnon-structural
measures for stormwater treatment and their
effectiveness, so that a five-year implementationplan
couldbe developed.
Under permit conditionsset by theMarylandDepartment
of the Environment — specifically the MPA’s Municipal
Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit— theMPA is
looking at a requirement to treat 20 percent of its impervi-
ous surfaces. Although theMPA had
PORT
ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMARY
It isnot everydayyou can improve the environment, provideagreat
resource for entertainment andeducation for the communityandmake
key investments to spurmorebusiness for thePort of Baltimore. But that
is exactlywhatMasonvilledoes.
”
~MarylandTransportationSecretary JamesT. Smith, Jr.
DoingRight by the Bay
Water QualityManagement PlanAddressesStormwater Runoff Into theChesapeake
MasonvilleCove:
TheNation’s First UrbanWildlifeRefugePartnership
“
PHOTOGRAPHYBYBILLMCALLEN
