What's New Nearly $40 million in funding for secondary sewage treatment plant Timmins Daily Press (6/17) With provincial and federal government funding, Timmins can finally join the majority of Ontario municipalities that have a secondary sewage treatment plant. The improvement will help reduce the amount of wastewater pollution in the Great Lakes.
Northland wastewater projects receive funds Duluth News Tribune (6/17) Duluth will receive $6.8 million in federal stimulus funds to build a wastewater overflow storage tank, and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District will receive $2.4 million to rehabilitate a wastewater pump station.
Overview
Wet weather pollution includes stormwater runoff and combined sewer overflows. Stormwater runoff is the excess water that flows over land during and after a rainfall, which can cause flooding, erosion and pollution problems. Pollutants like coliform bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients, oil and grease, organic priority pollutants and suspended solids enter rivers and lakes during storms. Combined sewer overflows are structural devices on combined sewer systems that divert untreated sewage mixed with stormwater to tributary rivers or directly into the Great Lakes. Pollution from these sources degrades the water quality of these rivers and lakes.
General Resources Programs in the Great Lakes U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) The USGS leads investigations that characterize storm-related water quantity and quality from selected CSO's, thus allowing the USGS to make better estimates of annual pollutant loads from CSO's to the Great Lakes.
Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project The Rouge Project recognizes the importance of addressing wet weather pollution problems in the river and developing a cost-effective watershed wide approach to deal with them.
Summary of Great Lakes Beach Closings 1981-1994 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) The Beach Closing Summary presents the findings of 14 years of annual surveys of Great Lakes bathing beaches.
SWMM: Storm Water Management Model U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SWMM is a large, complex model capable of simulating the movement of precipitation and pollutants from the ground surface through pipe and channel networks, storage treatment units and finally to receiving waters.
Wet Weather Discharges U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) The NPDES Support and Technical Assistance Branch provides regulatory and technical assistance to states and the regulated community in fulfilling their commitments under the NPDES program for wet weather discharges due to storm water, combined sewer overflow and sanitary sewer ovewflow.