Fairmount School Students Spray Paint the Streets

Bangor, ME— 4th and 5th graders at Fairmount School in Bangor are partnering with the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Bangor Area Storm Water Group (BASWG) and the City of Bangor to spray paint a important message on the streets.

Sample storm drain stencil.

The students will visit the neighborhoods around the school in Bangor on June 15, 2011 to stencil, REDUCE YOUR USE OF LAWN CHEMICALS, DRAINS TO STREAM on pavement near storm drains to remind residents that stormwater flows unfiltered to Kenduskeag Stream. The stencil also depicts a Rubber Ducky, which has become the symbol of stormwater pollution since the original “Ducky Ad” aired on television in 2005. This year a new advertisement featuring the red duck promoted safer lawn care, by encouraging Mainer’s to cut back on lawn chemicals, mow higher and leave grass clippings. In addition to stenciling messages next to the storm drains, the students will be leaving door hangers at houses to educate residents abut the project and stormwater.

Stormwater is rain that does not soak into the ground, but rather flows over the surface of the ground into the nearest body of water. As the water travels, it collects pollution such as pesticides, fertilizers, yard clippings, pet waste, loose soil, gasoline and oil. Storm drains act like funnels, transporting the stormwater from our streets and driveways directly into local waterways.

Chris Brewer of the Penobscot County Soil & Water Conservation District explains that there are many things we can all do to reduce stormwater pollution: “We are encouraging home owners to reduce or eliminate the use of lawn pesticides and fertilizers, pick up their pet’s waste, keep their vehicles well-tuned, and plant vegetation over bare ground and around bodies of water. All of these things dramatically reduce the amount of pollution entering our waterways, and improve water quality.”

The BASWG is a comprised of seven municipalities and other entities, working together to meet to make the Bangor Area a better place to live and work. For more information on BASWG and many stormwater friendly homeowner tips visit our website at www.baswg.org

6th Annual Regional Street & Stream Cleanup in Bangor Area

The Bangor Area Storm Water Group is looking for volunteers from our communities to help protect our local water resources at the 6th Annual Regional Street and Stream Cleanup. This is a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the fresh spring air with friends and family, while truly making a difference in your community and for our environment. Kid and adults, local organizations, groups and individuals are welcome. Volunteers will meet for a short safety discussion before heading out to the designated cleanup sites. All volunteers will be provided with free T-shirts as well as gloves and safety vests to wear during the event.  After cleanup activities, groups will reassemble for a free BBQ luncheon and celebration of our volunteers’ hard work.

This event is a coordinated regional effort to clean up our local waterways and reduce polluted runoff. The cleanup promises to be a fun and socially rewarding event, each year focusing on different locations throughout the seven municipalities forming the Bangor Urban Area (Bangor, Brewer, Orono, Old Town, Veazie, Hampden, and Milford). Last year was our 5th annual regional cleanup, and it was a huge success with over 300 volunteers participating in the collection of trash along the Penobscot River and its tributaries throughout the region.

If you would like to volunteer for this year’s events please meet us at one of the following locations:

Hampden: May 7
9:00 am, meet at the Town Office Community Room, 106 Western Ave
Contact: Bob Osborne, 862-6527, planner@hampdenmaine.gov

Veazie: May14 
9:00 am, meet at the Veazie Salmon Club
Contact: Allan Thomas, 947-2781, arthomas@veazie.net

Bangor: April 23 – Shaw Brook & Outer Hammond Street 
9:00 am, meet at Sports Arena, 1640 Outer Hammond Street
Contact: Tim, 848-7095, pellet@gmail.com

Bangor: April 14 – Capheart Brook & Finson Road
9:00 am, meet at Assembly of God Church, 614 Finson Road
Contact: Wendy Warren, 992-4255, wendy.warren@bangormaine.gov

Brewer: May 14
8:00 am, meet at the Brewer Auditorium
Contact: Ken Locke, 989-5417, klocke@brewerme.org

Orono: May 14
9:00 am, meet at the Orono Town Office
Contact: William Murphy or Ruth Vaughan, 866-5051, wmurphy@orono.org, ruthv@orono.org


University of Maine: April 27 
9:00 am, meet at Fogler Library
Contact: Scott Wilkerson, 581-3049, scott.wilkerson@maine.edu

The Regional Stream Cleanup started in 2006 as a way to comply with the Public Education and Participation requirements of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Storm Water Permit. This event is coordinated by members of the Bangor Area Storm Water Group, in conjunction with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Penobscot County Soil & Water Conservation District. All of the funds necessary to perform the event are raised locally through donations. No taxpayer funds are used for this program.

Bangor Students Spray Paint for Healthy Lawn Care

Bangor, ME—The Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District in conjunction with the Bangor Area Storm Water Group (BASWG) and the City of Bangor will be spray painting a new message on the streets of Bangor.

Students from Bangor High School visited the Randolph Street neighborhood in Bangor on October 23rd to stencil, REDUCE YOUR USE OF LAWN CHEMICALS, DRAINS TO STREAM on pavement near storm drains to remind residents that stormwater flows unfiltered to Birch Stream.  The stencil also depicts a Rubber Ducky, which has become the symbol of stormwater pollution since the “Ducky Ad” aired on television in 2005. In addition to stenciling messages next to the storm drains, the students left door hangers at area houses to educate residents abut the project and stormwater pollution in general.

Stormwater is rain that does not soak into the ground, but rather flows over the surface of the ground into the nearest body of water. As the water travels, it collects pollution such as pesticides, fertilizers, yard clippings, pet waste, loose soil, gasoline and oil. Storm drains act like funnels, transporting the stormwater from our streets and driveways directly into local waterways.

Chris Brewer of the Penobscot County Soil & Water Conservation District explains that there are many things we can all do to reduce stormwater pollution: “We are encouraging home owners to reduce or eliminate the use of lawn pesticides and fertilizers, pick up their pet’s waste, keep their vehicles well-tuned, and plant vegetation over bare ground and around bodies of water. All of these things dramatically reduce the amount of pollution entering our waterways, and improve water quality.”

The BASWG is a comprised of seven municipalities and other entities, working together to meet permit requirements to make the Bangor Area a better place to live and work. For more information on BASWG and many stormwater friendly homeowner tips visit our website at http://www.baswg.org/

Healthy Lawn Care class offered in Freeport!

Did you know there are approximately 40 million acres of lawns in the US, making lawns the nation’s largest irrigated crop. We Americans certainly love our lawns, unfortunately, fertilizers and pesticides used on lawns can wash into streams and lakes when it rains. These chemicals pollute the water and harm the organisms that live in the water bodies. The chemicals can also be harmful to children and pets that play on the lawn.

The Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) and the Town of Freeport are offering a free YardScaping class to teach area residents about healthy lawn care on June 23rd from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Freeport Community Center. Participants will discover how to maintain a lawn without chemicals to protect the health of kids, pets and local streams, like Concord Gully and Frost Gully.

You will learn information about healthy lawn care and have your individual questions and concerns answered. Whether you maintain your own lawn or hire a professional, this class is for you!

Join CCSWCD for some excellent information and great conversation. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Jami Fitch or Betty Williams at the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District at 892-4700 to sign up.

Septic Socials scheduled in Southern Maine

The Town of Kittery and the York County Soil & Water Conservation District are sponsoring two upcoming Septic Socials in Southern Maine.

Spruce Creek is teetering on the verge of long-term problems. The water quality continues to worsen because of stormwater runoff carrying pollutants and sewage from failing septic systems into the creek. Guest speakers will explain the issues and demonstrate how to make septic systems more creek-friendly. You'll learn how to apply simple and easy principles to extend the life of your current system and save you $$$.

Agenda:
6:00 Arrival and Registration
6:30 Protecting the Water and Your Investment (Joe Anderson)
7:30 Information on Siting Your System (Peter Drummond)
7:45 Maintenance Tips for Septic Systems (Bill Morgridge)
8:00 End Program

Dates: Wednesday, April 21st or May 12
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Katahdin Room at the Kittery Trading Post

For more information or to sign up, please contact Amy Stratford at Sevee & Maher Engineers, Inc. 207.829.5016 ext. 313 or als@smemaine.com.

Baby it's cold outside!

(by Kristie Rabasca, P.E., LEED AP, and occasional gardener)

And most of the trees are bare now. They have shed their leaves to the ground, and left you with the work of annual fall yard clean up. But what to do with all those leaves? As we complete fall clean up activities, such as raking and cutting back perennials, it is important to keep in mind the health of the waters around us. The Center for Watershed Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency provide recommendations for proper management of yard waste in order to protect our waters:

The Best Option: Keep yard waste on your property by mulching leaves and grass clippings into your lawn, or by composting in a responsible way. Small quantities of leaves can be mulched into the lawn with grass clippings as you mow. Larger quantities of leaves may need to be composted. Compost generally consists of the following materials:

• Browns—Includes materials such as dead leaves, branches , twigs
• Greens—Includes materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds
• Water

Here is one way to compost effectively:

1. Find a dry shady spot for your compost bin or pile that is accessible to your wheel barrow and a garden hose. Plan on enough space for two piles, so you can add to one, while the other “cooks.”
2. Add your brown and green materials as you collect them, making sure larger pieces are chopped or shredded.
3. Moisten dry materials as they are added.
4. Once your compost pile is established, mix grass clippings and green waste into the pile and bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches of compost material.
5. Optional: Cover top of compost with a tarp to keep it moist.
6. When the material at the bottom is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use (this is usually occurs in two months to two years).
7. Remember that no matter what you do (don’t have enough green, don’t have enough brown, water too much, or water too little, or even if you let it freeze in the winter…) it will eventually turn into lovely dark compost!

The Next Best Option: Take yard waste to the transfer station for composting. Make sure you use the paper bags that will decompose.

Don’t blow or rake yard waste into the street – it will clog the storm drains which can cause flooding and ultimately cost your Town more to clean out those catch basins and pipes.

Don’t dump yard waste onto an embankment near a stream or river - It can clog the stream or river suffocating the fish and organisms that live in these delicate ecosystems.

Don’t burn your leaves – Leaves will naturally compress in volume so rapidly that after just one winter of stockpile you will have a very small pile that will be easier to manage in the spring.

For more information on composting, visit one of the following websites:

• EPA Website on Composting
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension website for Gardening and Horticulture

BASWG Presented Lane Construction with a Volunteer Reginition Award

On October 8, 2009 the Bangor Area Stormwater Group (BASWG) presented the Lane Construction Corporation with a volunteer service award for their generous donations in support of our Regional Stream Cleanups.

Each year BASWG coordinates the Annual Regional Stream Cleanup. This year was our 4th annual event and over 800 volunteers showed up with bags and buckets in hand to collect litter from the watersheds of our local streams and rivers, at the 10 events in Bangor, Brewer, Orono, Old Town, Hampden, Veazie, and Milford.

All in all, over 1,000 bags of trash were collected, totaling an estimated 8.2 tons! Some of the most interesting items found include an old pool table, a wheel chair, and foreign currency. However, most of the volume of trash collected was made of small every-day items such as cigarette butts, food wrappers, and disposable coffee cups.

Had it not been collected, all of this litter would have been carried into our local waterways in stormwater runoff, the water that runs over the surface of the ground during rain storms. At the Brewer Stream Cleanup volunteers learned that stormwater carries other pollutants to the stream as well, such as lawn care products and pet waste, and that we can reduce stormwater pollution year round by doing things like using less fertilizer on our lawns, and picking up our pets’ waste. Special appearances of Stormy the Stormwater Duck also reminded volunteers of this message, which was delivered in the Ducky Ads that aired on TV and radio this summer.

The event couldn’t have been what it was without its generous sponsors, including Lane Construction, NH Bragg, Bangor Daily News, Edwards Family Shop-N-Save, Casco Bay Energy, Union Street Athletics, and others.

Eugene Weldon, Environmental Coordinator at Lane Construction, discusses his company’s role as an event sponsor: “It is through community projects like these stream cleanups that we are able to share our concern for the environment and work together as a team to improve the quality & appearance of those communities. The Lane Construction Corporation is committed to safety and was pleased to provide 500 T-Shirts for these events. The t-shirts were bright orange to increase the visibility of our volunteers and we know how important it is to be visible when working in public areas. We are grateful to the Bangor Area Storm Water group for working with their members to coordinate these events regionally and to all of the volunteers who participated in these events that made them a success.”

The Bangor Area Storm Water Group is comprised of the cities/towns of Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Milford, Old Town, and Veazie as well as the Bangor International Airport, Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, Eastern Maine Community College, Maine Air National Guard, University of Maine, University College of Bangor, Maine DEP, UMaine Cooperative Extension and the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District, working together to make the Bangor Area a better place to live and work.