Joaquin Brought Historic Flooding and Death to South Carolina

from USGS

Very heavy rainfall fell across South Carolina during October 1–5, 2015, as a result of the low-pressure system that funneled tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin into the State. Though the Hurricane never made landfall the storm that hit the eastern half of South Carolina caused major flooding and destruction throughout the region.

Almost 27 inches of rain fell near Mount Pleasant. Other areas experienced more than 20 inches of rain. Seventeen people died. This week the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its report: “Preliminary Peak Stage and Streamflow Data at Selected USGS Streamgaging Stations for the South Carolina Flood of October 2015.”

The USGS operates over 9,800 stream gauges nationwide with about 170 of them in South Carolina. Streamflow data collected from the stream gauges is used to better understand flooding, improve forecasting ability and document the extent of flooding that occurred. During flooding, streamflow data are vital for flood warning, forecasting, and emergency management. The long-term streamflow data are used to assess risk and changes in risk and to mitigate flooding through flood-plain management and in the design or repair of infrastructure.

The storm system caused significant widespread freshwater flooding throughout the State. USGS data shows the highest rainfall total of 26.9 inches near Mount Pleasant, and at the Charleston Airport rainfall totals set new records during the storm and its aftermath. Seventeen of the USGS streamgages recorded the highest peak streamflow and/or river height since those streamgages were installed. One of the streamgages, on the Black River at Kingstree, South Carolina, recorded its largest peak in the 87 years it has existed. An additional 15 USGS streamgages recorded peaks in the top 5 for their periods of record.

According to John Shelton, the USGS hydrologist who oversaw the agency’s field response and gauging operations in South Carolina, "This was absolutely an historic flood for South Carolina." The L.A. Times reported that in rural counties, conservative estimates of agricultural loses are expected to be at least $300 million, and total damages across the State will likely exceed $1 billion.

A long time reader emailed me to ask if she should have flood insurance. To help you decide you can enter your address in the FEMA web-site and see what flood zone (if any) you are in. Flood hazard areas are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). This is the familiar base flood or 100-year flood zone. SFHAs are labeled as Zone A, AO, AH, etc. or Zone V, etc. Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2% annual-chance (or 500-year) flood zone. The areas of minimal flood hazard, which is where I live, are the areas outside the SFHA are labeled Zone C or Zone X and are unshaded on the maps.

The term "100-year flood" is misleading because it leads people to believe that it happens only once every 100 years. The truth is that an uncommonly big flood can happen any year. The term "100-year flood" is really a statistical designation, and there is a 1-in-100 chance that a flood this size will happen during any year. If you live on the designated floodplain, the chances are about 1 in 2 that you will experience a significant flood during your lifetime. In addition, development changes the flooding characteristics of the land, in many cases increasing it. So, I simply do not live in flood plains.

Sunscreen Killing Coral Reefs

from NOAA

According to scientists 10% of the world's reefs have been completely destroyed. For several years this has been attributed entirely to warming of the oceans which can cause corals to sicken and die. The most obvious sign that coral is sick is coral bleaching. That is when either the algae inside die, or the algae leave the coral. The algae are what give coral its color, so without the algae the coral has no color and the white of the limestone shell shines through the transparent coral bodies. The algae are the coral’s source of food.

Three weeks ago the, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NOAA) researchers and their partners released a paper that detailing their discovery that a sunscreen chemical commonly used in many soaps, cosmetics, and body fragrances is highly toxic to corals. The team's data show that even very low concentrations of benzophenone-2, or BP-2, can quickly kill juvenile corals causing the coals to bleach. The team also found that BP-2 causes colorful corals to bleach, and can potentially induce or increase the frequency of mutation in corals by causing damage to their DNA.

In a study published last week in published by the Archives of Environmental Contamination and “Toxicology, Toxicopathological Effects of the Sunscreen UV Filter, Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), on Coral Planulae and Cultured Primary Cells and Its Environmental Contamination in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands” another group of scientists looked at the Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3) which is used in the United States for sunscreens.

By sampling the ocean waters the researchers found that oxybenzone, commonly used in sunscreens in the United States (and Europe), is in relatively high concentrations in the waters around the more popular coral reefs in Hawaii, and the Caribbean. It is seemingly washing off divers and swimmers. The chemical not only kills the coral, it causes DNA damage in the adult coral and deforms the DNA in coral in the larval stage, making it unlikely they can develop properly. The highest concentrations of oxybenzone were found in reefs most popular with tourists.

Then in laboratory experiments, the team exposed coral larvae and adult corals to increasing concentrations of oxybenzone. They discovered that oxybenzone deforms coral larvae by trapping them in their own skeleton, making then unable to float with currents and disperse. The Oxybenzone was also found to caure coral bleaching, which is the major source of coral death world wide.

BP-2  and oxybenzone are additives in personal care products. BP-2 has been used since the 1960s to protect against the damaging effects of ultraviolet light. Oxybenzone or Benzopheone-3 is used in the United States for sunscreen. It is slathered on all our skin as recommended by dermatologists, government and beauty magazines. The ubiquitous use of sunscreen has been a much more successful campaign than recycling. The problems is the effects of BP-2 and oxybenzone on the earth. Neither chemical is removed from most municipal wastewater treatment facilities and it simply flows though the treatment train and out with the released water often directly released in coastal waters threatening near-shore life and is simply washed off of divers.

BP-2 is no longer approved for use in the United States for sunscreens, but it is used in many beauty products. Oxybenzone has replaced BP-2 in most sunscreens.According to the Environmental Working Group, “Oxybenzone is a sunscreen ingredient associated with photoallergic reactions. This chemical absorbs through the skin in significant amounts. It contaminates the bodies of 97% of Americans according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The newest study was lead by Craig Downs, executive director and researcher at the non-profit scientific organization Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia. The scientists collected samples from reefs in Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Eilat, Israel diving into the water themselves. They wore no personal hygiene products during the dives.

“The use of oxybenzone-containing products needs to be seriously deliberated in islands and areas where coral reef conservation is a critical issue,” Downs said. “We have lost at least 80 % of the coral reefs in the Caribbean.” The scientists estimated that around 14,000 tons of sunscreen containing 1%-10% oxybenzone are washed into the Oceans each year.

As Dr. Downs pointed out “Any small effort to reduce oxybenzone pollution could mean that a coral reef survives a long, hot summer, or that a degraded area recovers. Everyone wants to build coral nurseries for reef restoration, but this will achieve little if the factors that originally killed off the reef remain or intensify in the environment.”

Farm Field Days 2015

The kids and parents arrive for Farm Field Days

Yesterday and today I will spend my time at Farm Field Days. Our 26th annual Farm Field Days was held yesterday October 21 and today October 22 at the Prince William Fairgrounds. By the time we finish today about 1,600 fourth graders, their teachers and chaperons will have enjoyed our interactive learning program bringing the farm to the students. The Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District runs this annual field trip at no cost to the schools using volunteers and donations. This year we had 14 schools from Prince William County and the City of Manassas participating. To pull off this annual two-day event requires many more people than the 5 person staff at the Conservation District, it required the help of more than 100 volunteers including some 50 Ecology Club students from Stonewall Jackson High School. (Thank you, you were great!)

Students spend the day rotating through seven barns, with each barn highlighting an aspect of life on the farm using hands-on lessons. The animal barns never fails to amaze the kids by not only showcasing the full range of farmyard critters from bees to chickens and cows, but feature interactive demonstrations of how common products are made.

Demonstrations included wool spinning, butter churning, agricultural and industrial Regions of Virginia, trees and photosynthesis, and soil erosion through a science experiment, to name a few. Horsepower to High Tech tests the physical strength of a class of students to pull a tractor using math formulas to calculate horsepower. These demonstrations are geared to meet Virginia SOL (standards of learning) measures. Farm Field Days is a fun and engaging hands-on approach to teaching students about the agricultural world around them, and opening their eyes to the importance of protecting our natural resources.

For the past for five out of the past seven years I have be in the Regions of Virginia Barn teaching students about the land, the rivers and the geology of the Commonwealth and how that shaped our communities and our lives. Water availability and quality are critical issues facing all communities. An essential path to conserving our soil and water resources is by education our children on the value of these resources and making the connections to the natural world and our agricultural heritage. It is important for all our citizens see the connections and to understand the importance of keeping fertilizer and soil on the land, not in our streams, and how rain carries litter, dirt and other contaminants into our streams.

The entire Chesapeake Bay watershed is under a federal mandate to reduce sediment and fertilizer runoff into the bay in order to improve water quality. Experience has shown that the most effective way to protect water quality from runoff is through the District’s approach of cooperative and locally run programs. To succeed it is necessary for all to practice conservation. Good land management, promoted by the District’s programs, is essential to the sustainability of both our groundwater and our local farming community.

Heading back towards the buses

WSSC Not Planning to Fail

Last week a 16-inch water main under Rockville Pike broke, flooding sections of Rockville Pike. To find the leak and repair the damage Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) had to close the water valve to the main cutting off water to 250 households, and excavate a section of pipe partially closing Rockville Pike overnight and into the morning rush hour. WSSC reports that the cast iron pipe was 74 years old and the damage and disruption were limited due to the size of the pipe and WSSC’s practiced response to pipe failure. For a while now WSSC had been repairing and replacing water pipes after they broke or had exceeded their expected lifetime. This strategy was simply planning for failure.

This pipe break last week and the growing number of breaks in the past couple of years sever to highlight the issue of aging infrastructure in the WSSC’s system and America. Though recently, WSSC has been replacing about 55 miles of water mains per year that has not been enough to keep the water delivery system- the pipes fittings and valves within the expected age of the piping. That rate of pipe replacement would replace the water system in 101 years. The pipes in the WSSC system have not been lasting that long. WSSC reports that approximately 37% of the water system delivery pipes are over 50 years old. Though age is not the only factor that causes pipe failure, most of the system’s pipes were designed for an average lifespan of 70 years.

The water pipes installed during the late 19th century were typically described as having an average useful lifespan of about 120 years because of the pipe wall thickness used, but most of WSSC was installed after World War II in the booms of the 20th and 21st centuries. In the 1950s and 1960s of ductile iron pipe that is stronger than cast iron and more resistant to corrosion was introduced and used with thinner walls. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes were introduced in the 1970s and high-density polyethylene in the 1990s. Both of these are very resistant to corrosion but they do not have the strength of ductile iron. Post-World War II pipes tend to have an average life in the real world of 50-105 years depending on many factors (AWWA). To extend the life of the ductile pipes they were mortar-lined. These linings are meant to prevent corrosion and increase pipe longevity. In the 1970’ steel reinforced concrete pipe with a promised life of 100 years began to be used for the giant water mains by WSSC.

Unfortunately, these concrete trunk lines began to fail catastrophically decades before their promised 100-year life expectancy. Unfortunately, WSSC has 350 miles of steel reinforced concrete pipe. In addition, WSSC ‘s supplier, Interpace, may have produced inferior pipe- the company was successfully sued by WSSC and others and is now out of business. Nine of the WSSC’s concrete mains have blown apart since 1996. After a particularly spectacular blowout 2008 and to prevent future catastrophe, WSSC installed a sensor system along all the concrete mains that cost more than $21 million to alert WSSC of an impending failure, but unfortunately the replacement program became very much an emergency replacement program responding to sensors and smaller breaks.

Ideally, pipe replacement occurs at the end of a pipe’s “useful life”; that is, the point in time when replacement or rehabilitation becomes less expensive in going forward than the costs of numerous unscheduled breaks and associated emergency repairs; rather than waiting for a pipe to fail. Age alone, however, cannot always be used as an indicator of failure, but it is a good predictor in warm weather breaks. In cold weather more pipes fail. There is a relationship between water temperature and pipe breaks. A sudden temperature drop provides a kind of shock to the pipes especially when the pipes are older. Water temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit can also cause pipes to become more brittle, and break. That leads to increased pipe breaks in the winter, and why water utilities typically report their February number of breaks- when most breaks take place. For the last several years WSSC pipe replacement program has had more unscheduled emergency repairs in winter.

WSSC has responded to the deterioration of their system by developing a long term plan of what was needed repair and restore their  systems. Over the next 10 years WSSC projects they will have to replace over 2,000 miles of water pipe and similar amount or sewer pipes. WSSC estimates that they will have to spend over $2.6 billion dollars in the next five years on capital improvement projects alone and has been studying how to pay for those needs. In 2010, WSSC re-established the Bi-County Infrastructure Funding Working Group to identify near-term options to fund both operations and the $2.6 billion in capital needed to rehabilitate, upgrade and replace water and wastewater infrastructure and related facilities in the next five years alone. The plan they developed was to combine increasing customer charges, refinancing bonds to extend maturities and lower rates and issuing new debt to raise the capital to pay for the rehabilitation of the system.

On October 14, 2015 WSSC sold $390 million of Consolidated Public Improvement Bonds with a true interest rate of 3.426919%. The bonds were rated tripple A -(AAA/Aaa/AAA) by the bond rating agencies: Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, which also reaffirmed WSSC’s AAA rating on its other outstanding bonds. The $390 million 30-year bonds will be used to finance WSSC capital projects and pay down a portion of the Commission’s bond anticipation note program. WSSC is moving forward. This is the third bond sale within 12 months. 

Come See PW Landfill Transforming to an Eco-Park

On Saturday, October 17, 2015 from 10 am to 2 pm there will be a free event at the Prince William County Landfill, with music and Landfill Tours throughout the day that would allow you to see the changes that are transforming the Landfill to an Eco-Park. An Eco-Park is a place used to demonstrate sustainability and reuse. Eco parks have been developed on former industrial sites and in the past decade as part of sustainable industrial development around the world. Here in Prince William County the landfill is has been undergoing a transformation to an eco-park; an ecologically sustainable operation producing green energy, recovering materials and providing a unique location for education and research.

Prince William Landfill is right off of Dumfries Road in Manassas, VA and has operated at this location since 1972 when it was merely the county dump. Today the landfill encompasses 1,000 acres, receives about 1,000 tons/day of household trash, and has extensive environmental controls. The oldest section of the landfill contains 57 acres that were closed in 1991 when the state law that regulates landfills (HB 1205) went into effect. That area is currently used for little league fields and has been undergoing retrofit with liners and leachate and landfill gas collection systems to protect the environment in an ongoing effort to manage the mistakes of the past. The newer section of the landfill was designed to comply within modern environmental regulations and sustainable practices.

Today Prince William County Landfill is engineered and built as a series of cells. The cells include liners of plastic membranes and watertight geo-synthetic clay liner fabric on the bottom of the cells along with a leachate collection system. At the end of each day, earth covers the trash deposited in the cell, to keep animals away, improve aesthetics- cut down on the smell. When a cell if full it is capped to prevent (or at least limit) the rain that percolates through the landfill and covered in soil. Most recently, the landfill capped the Phase I section and opened up a newly lined cell in the Phase II area.

The PW Landfill has a series of groundwater monitoring wells that are observed and/or sampled quarterly to ensure that groundwater is not impacted or any impact is contained and 100 landfill gas extraction wells. Landfill gas is generated during the natural process of bacterial decomposition of organic material contained in the trash buried in the landfill. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, with the remainder being mostly carbon dioxide. Landfill gas also contains varying amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, sulfur, and other contaminants. The gases produced within the landfill are either collected and flared off or used to produce heat and electricity. The landfill gas cannot be allowed to build up in the landfill because of the explosive potential. PW Landfill has operated for almost 40 years and has more than 7 million tons of trash buried at the landfill. That trash currently generates in excess of 2,700 standard cubic feet per minute of landfill gas up from 1,600 standard cubic feet a minute in 1999.

In the late 1990’s NEO Prince William (Fortistar) installed a landfill gas collection system and a 1.9 Mega Watt generator tied into the electrical grid. This first stage of the renewable energy development program became operational in November 1998. The landfill electrical generation plant was expanded in November 2013. The facility, still operated by Fortistar, now generates a total of 6.7 MW of electricity. This is enough power for approximately 5,000 homes. NOVEC buys the renewable energy produced at the landfill and resells it to their customers.

Power Generation at Landfill 

Even with the expanded electrical generation there is still more than 200 standard cubic feet per minute of excess landfill gas available. So the county built a pipeline from the landfill to the county animal shelter on Bristow Road with connections to several buildings along the way to provide landfill gas to heat the Fleet Maintenance Building and provide fuel to the Animal Shelter incinerator (yeah, I know). A connection to the School bus garage was added in 2014. This allows the County Public Works Department to replace the propane formerly used with landfill gas which is a “Renewable Fuel Resource,” and reducing the energy footprint of our county. Now they are evaluating the potential to provide landfill gas for heating, cooling and power to the Kelly Leadership Center and other adjacent County and School buildings and using the landfill gas for vehicle fuel.

Last year the County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with LEEP Holdings, LLC, of Vienna to begin a demonstration project to convert solid waste to reusable products at the landfill. LEEP was among three companies that submitted proposals to the County for this project. LEEP is currently demonstrating that they can process 250 tons a day of the 1,000 tons a day of garbage that the landfill takes in. Next year they are scheduled to process 300 tons of garbage a day by the third year, and reach the target 400 tons a day by the fourth year. Prince William County Solid Waste Division Chief Tom Smith said that during the demonstration, LEEP plans to show that it can successfully manage its waste conversion operation. “They are proposing to process and sort waste into different products, to pull the metals out for recycling, to turn the organics into a fuel pellet and to take plastic to make a lightweight aggregate for use in making lightweight concrete.” This project if successful will extend the life of the landfill.

In 2011 the County’s Solid Waste Facilities (Landfill and Balls Ford Road Composting facility) were designated as an Extraordinary Environmental Enterprise (E4) participant in the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP). Prince William County Landfill is the only active landfill to have received this recognition. In 2012 the landfill was designated an “Audubon at Home” wildlife sanctuary. According to the Prince William Conservation Alliance, who organizes the annual Nokesville Christmas Bird Count, the Prince William County Landfill has the largest numbers of Bald Eagles in the county. On Christmas day 2012 the Birders counted 10 adults and 10 immature Bald Eagles, along with many gulls including 650 Ring-billed Gulls and three Great Black-backed Gulls. Prince William County’s Solid Waste Division was awarded the Virginia Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award in 2013 for its Sustainability Program.

Moving forward, the County has big plans for the landfill. They are looking to partner with private companies in developing solar power at landfill site. Even with the recent reduction in solar costs and the existing federal tax incentives cost is still an issue without state incentives. None the less, the county is exploring options with a private company and NOVEC to build a solar project in phases beginning with net metering to supply power to the buildings on site (1.3 MW) and potentially expand to other buildings. There is plenty of space on the landfill for solar panels, but without state incentives cost is still an issue. That could change with the new U.S. EPA mandated clean energy plan and the landfill will be ready to move forward.

Currently there are activities that occur on site at the Landfill. The Landfill buffer serves as a protected pollinator and wildlife habitat, and the on-site wetland and streams (which are carefully monitored for contamination) have a viewing platform. There are regular tours of the landfill buffer for environmental studies with local 4H Club and the Master Gardeners. There are also hiking trails, bird watching and nature exploration. There are also Landfill community events and tours. The Prince William Landfill would like to do more to expand programs on green building, energy efficiency, and sustainable living; the County hopes to develop and build an Education Center at the Landfill to encourage innovation and advance sustainable solutions to the environmental challenges we face.

After 16 Years Blue Plains Implements Biosolids Management Plan

DC Water’s Biosolids Management Plan was originally adopted in 1999. This plan calledfor long-term Biosolids processing, treatment and disposal by land application. The plan was developed with input from the community, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. However, because of the cost of the project DC Water to deferred the project for a number of years until pushed by regulatory mandate. The decision by the DC Water to defer the project was based on an independently conducted economic analysis and an internal cost-benefit evaluation. All capital expenditure are paid for by DC Water (and Virginia and Maryland) rate payers so costs and benefits have to be considered when planning capital projects will increase customer water and sewer rates.

Sitting on the southernmost tip of Washington DC, across the river from Alexandria is the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. While there are larger sewer treatment plants, that remove the solids and bacteria, the modern day Blue Plains also has Tertiary Treatment to remove nitrogen and phosphorus making Blue Plains the largest advance treatment plant in the United States at 150 acres and with a rated annual average day capacity if 370 million gallons per day (mgd) and a peak wet weather capacity of 1,076 mgd and serving 2 million people. The system needs such a large storm rated capacity to accommodate the old central city section which accounts for one third the area of the District and still has the original combined sewer system that overflows with predictable regularity during large storms

Being an advanced waste water treatment plant is not as modern as it sounds. At Blue Plains and other sewer treatment plants primary treatment uses screens to remove large solids from wastewater, and performs some rudimentary treatment to remove crude solids of human waste and skim off grease, oil and fat. Wastewater sits in settling tanks, which are designed to hold the wastewater for several hours. During that time, most of the heavy solids fall to the bottom of the tank, where they become a thick slurry known as primary sludge. The material that floats is skimmed from the surface of the tanks. Secondary (or biological) treatment involves feeding oxygen to bio-organisms that break down any organic matter still in the wastewater.

Tertiary treatment further treats the effluent water to remove nitrogen, phosphorus, fine suspended particles and microbes, and to kill or slowdown disease-causing organisms and viruses. It is the tertiary treatment that makes Blue Plains an Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. At this time, Blue Plains cannot remove enough nitrogen from the waste stream to meet the EPA mandated limit for nitrogen. In addition, when it rains the performance of the clarification units deteriorates because of the large flow of water from the combined sewer system and infiltration overwhelms the system causing turbulence and not enough time to settle the solids and scum. The deterioration in performance cascades down the treatment train and results in a reduced treatment for the sewage that lasts not only during the rain, but can last for several weeks. Blue Plans is currently engaged in a $7.8 billion 20 year improvement program called the Clean Rivers Project that will meet the reduced total nitrogen released requirements of their operating permits and increase the control of the system during rain storms in addition sludge treatment will be improved and sewer piping improved in many areas.

The sludge is separated from the wastewater during the primary treatment is further screened and allowed to gravity thicken in a tank. Then the sludge is mixed with the solids collected from the secondary and denitrification units. The combined solids are pumped to tanks where they are heated to destroy pathogens and further reduce the volume of solids. With treatment sludge is transformed (at least in name) to Biosolids.

On Wednesday at DC Water unveiled the recently completed and operational sludge treatment system. The plant now has Cambi thermal hydrolysis trains, four digesters, new dewatering equipment and a combined heat and power plant at a cost of $470 million. The new digestor system uses thermal hydrolysis (heating to over 160 degrees under high pressure) followed by anaerobic digestors. The system produces methane gas which is captured and used to run turbines to produce power that will meet over one third of DC Water's electric demand at Blue Plains (about $10 million in electric costs) and the digestion process destroys nearly one half of the Biosolids and producing Class A Biosolids reducing the chemical treatment costs and the transportation costs to get rid of the Biosolids. This will save DC Water an additional $13 million a year. Even with all these savings the project has a payback of over 20 years, so this was not about savings, but rather better sewage treatment in an urban environment. Class A Biosolids are safer and easier to use in agriculture.

At the unveiling on Wednesday DC Water indicated that they intend to sell a substantial portion of the residual Biosolids product as a soil amendment in Home Depot now that the Biosolids produced by the plant will be Class A . To ensure that Biosolids applied to the land as fertilizer do not threaten public health, the EPA created the 40 CFR Part 503 Rule in 1989 that is still in effect today. It categorizes Biosolids as Class A or B, depending on the level of fecal coliform and salmonella bacteria in the material and restricts the use based on classification. The Biosolids are tested for fecal coliform and salmonella and composite sampling is done for metals and hydrocarbons; the presence of other emerging contaminants in the Biosolids is not tracked. The land application of Class B Biosolids has been a growing area of concern. Research at the University of Virginia found that organic chemicals persist in the Class B Biosolids and can be introduced into the food chain. The new Biosolids treatment system will not only reduce the stench at Blue Plains, but will also reduce the overall amount of Biosolids and improve their safety by producing only Class A Biosolids. DC Water under the able leadership of George S. Hawkins is moving forward. Mr. Hawkins has launched an ambitious agenda at DC Water that complements the very broad Clean Rivers program to improve aging infrastructure and comply with ever more stringent regulatory requirements from the U.S. EPA.

Montgomery County Bans Roundup and 2, 4-D Use on Lawns

On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council by a vote of 6 to 3 passed Bill 52-14 a new law banning the ornamental use of pesticides including Roundup and 2,4 D as well as hundreds of others. Though the law goes into effect in January 1, 2016 most of the requirements have an effective date of January 2018.

Bill 52-14 restricts the application of pesticides on County-owned and private lawns, requires the county to conduct a public outreach and education campaign before and during the implementation, and requires the County to adopt an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan. IPM is a method of pest control which minimizes the use of chemical pesticides by focusing on pest identification and monitoring and uses a combination of biological, physical/mechanical and, when necessary, chemical management tools. The law will also require the posting of notice when a property owner applies a pesticide to an area of lawn more than 100 square feet, so even postage stamp size yards will come under the law.

The law includes all pesticides classified as "Carcinogenic to Humans" or "Likely to Be Carcinogenic to Humans" by the U.S. EPA; all pesticides classified by the U.S. EPA as "Restricted Use Products;" all pesticides classified as "Class 9" pesticides by the Ontario, Canada, Ministry of the Environment; all pesticides classified as "Category 1 Endocrine Disruptors" by the European Commission; and any other pesticides that are determined not to be critical to pest management in the County. Pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides, used to simply prevent blemishes and other imperfections on private and public lands are banned.

Violation of this law will be a Class C Misdemeanor and will depend on the public reporting neighbors to the authorities. The law is modeled on laws in Canada where the use of pesticides for ornamental use have been banned town by town, Provence by Provence beginning with the 2009 Ontario ban of pesticides use for cosmetic purposes on lawns, vegetable and ornamental gardens, patios, driveways, cemeteries, and in parks and school yards. The Ontario law contains no exceptions for pest infestations (insects, fungi or weeds) in these areas, as lower risk pesticides, biopesticides and alternatives to pesticides exist. More than 250 pesticide products are banned for sale and over 95 pesticide ingredients are banned for cosmetic uses under their regulation, the Class 9 pesticides cited in the Maryland law.

A huge body of relational evidence exists on the possible role of pesticide exposures in the elevated incidence of human diseases such as cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, birth defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, diabetes, and obesity. Most of the disorders are induced by insecticides and herbicides most notably organophosphorus, organochlorines, phenoxyacetic acids, and triazine compounds.  A wide range of chemicals are used to treat everything from pests to mold in household gardens. One of those is 2, 4-D, used by cereal crop producers and commonly found in household weed killers. It has been the subject of an extensive study by Health Canada which determined that, when used properly, it is safe. Organizations like the Sierra Club and the Canadian Cancer Society, which strongly support a ban on cosmetic use of pesticides and herbicides, disagree. However, no specific research linking the currently used ornamental pesticides to disease in humans was found.

The only documented study to find a disease link to 2,4-D was done in the United States, a 1991 National Cancer Institute study examined dogs whose owners' lawns were treated with 2,4-D four or more times per year. The study found those dogs had double the risk of developing canine malignant lymphoma than dogs whose owners do not use the herbicide.

In addition, this past year, glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine), the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup and the most popular herbicide in use today in the United States has been labeled a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, which is the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization. Americans spray an estimated 180-185 million pounds of the weed killer, on their yards and farms every year. All the acute toxicity tests have found that glyphosate is nearly nontoxic to mammals; however, there have been for some time a minority of scientists and experts who believes that glyphosate may be much more toxic than is claimed and push for studying potential impacts to human health from low level constant exposure to glyphosate. Glyphosate is subject to the Montgomery law.

The Canadian and Montgomery County bans on cosmetic use of herbicides and pesticides are intended to protect children based on the belief that children may be more at risk of developing health problems from pesticides because:

• Their activities lead to more exposure e.g., playing in the grass, putting their hands or toys in their mouths.
• They are closer to the ground and breathe in higher amounts of pesticides.
• Proportional to their weight, they breathe in more air and consume more food and drink than do adults.
• Their immature metabolic systems cannot break down toxins as effectively as adults.
• Their bodies are rapidly growing and developing and potentially impacted more strongly by endocrine disruptor effects.

While I certainly do not know if a ban on ornamental use of pesticides will prevent disease a in children and cancers in the adult population, I wonder what the downside of reducing use would be. For full disclosure purposes I have the third to worst lawn in my neighborhood, I apply no chemicals to my lawn and never water. However, I do hope to improve the lawn by aerating and over seeding annually and applying my compost. So far, not so good despite soil analysis that showed decent soil composition and years of effort. Embrace the cheerful beauty of dandelions.

My lawn- at least it's green!