Maryland green stormwater control initiative announced

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Maryland Department of Environment have announced a $100m initiative to provide technical and regulatory support for developing and implementing the Prince George’s County Urban Stormwater Retrofit Public-Private Partnership Demonstration Pilot.

The organisations plan to retrofit an initial 2,000 acres to treat 90% of water and retain one inch of runoff, achieving pollution reductions of 50% for nitrogen, 40% for phosphorus, and 80% for sediment.

EPA regional administrator Shawn Garvin said that local governments around the country are seeing the benefits of using green infrastructure for controlling stormwater.

"Local jurisdictions like Prince George’s County are leading the way by providing valuable examples to others on the road to creating sustainable communities and healthy watersheds," Garvin added.

Prince George’s County department of environmental resources (DER) director Adam Ortiz said: "Although challenging, we believe we have developed a true partnership where the goals of government, private business and the public are completely aligned to meet our multiple programmatic goals."

A green street minimises the environmental impact of a roadway by reducing the amount of water that is piped directly into streams and rivers, creating rain gardens, installing street tree canopies, using energy efficient lighting and encouraging pedestrian and cycle access.