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Stormwater Information

Department of Public Works

Think Blue Massachusetts
 

Think Blue Massachusetts is a statewide educational campaign to help residents and businesses do their part to reduce polluted runoff and keep our state’s lakes, rivers, and streams clean and healthy. Learn more about Think Blue Massachusetts at the following link: https://www.thinkbluemassachusetts.org/

About Sterling's Stormwater Management Plan

Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater program, operators of regulated small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) require authorization to discharge stormwater under an NPDES permit. The Town of Sterling, located partially within an Urbanized Area as identified by the latest Decennial (2010) census and designated as a partially regulated community, applied for coverage under NPDES 2016 Massachusetts MS4 General Permit for Stormwater Discharges. To be in compliance with the Permit, the Town was required to develop a stormwater management program (SWMP) designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants from Sterling’s MS4 to the maximum extent practicable; protect water quality, and satisfy the water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act and Massachusetts Water Quality Standards. The SWMP includes six minimum control measures. The minimum control measures are as follows:

  1. Public Education and Outreach
  2. Public Involvement and Participation
  3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE)
  4. Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
  5. Post Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment
  6. Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping in Municipal Operations

In order to apply for coverage under the 2016 General Permit, the Town had to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The NOI provided information pertaining to the permit applicant, including the applicant’s eligibility for a General Permit and a listing all receiving waters within the community. In addition, the NOI provided a summary of, and implementation schedule for, the Town’s SWMP.

Prior to submitting a NOI the Town had to confirm that it was eligible for coverage under the General Permit by establishing that discharges from its storm drain system do not adversely impact endangered species, critical habitat, and historic properties. In addition, the Town had to perform research to identify its receiving waters and those that have been classified as Water Quality Impaired Waters by the MA DEP.

The Town submitted an NOI to EPA on September 28, 2018.  As a result, an Authorization to Discharge was granted to the Town on July 30, 2019.

The following sections briefly summarize the results of research performed to assess the Town’s eligibility and investigations conducted to document the status of the Town’s receiving waters.

Discharges to Water Quality Impaired Waters

According to the Massachusetts Year 2014 Integrated List of Waters, none of the waterbodies located within the Town of Sterling are identified as impaired. There are no Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements for the surface waters that receive stormwater discharges from the Town’s drainage system outfalls.  The overall goal of the Town’s SWMP is to reduce the discharge of pollutants from the storm drainage system to all receiving waters including those not listed as impaired in the Massachusetts Year 2014 Integrated List of Waters. The following sections briefly summarize how the various components of the Town’s SWMP will improve the quality of stormwater discharged to the Town’s receiving waters.

The Town’s planned public education and outreach efforts and public involvement and participation activities will raise awareness throughout the community regarding the impacts of non-point source pollution on the receiving waterbodies and will educate the public on methods to reduce this type of pollution. It is expected that as the public becomes more aware of the Community’s water quality issues and the responsibilities expected of them and others in the Community, they will modify their behaviors to help improve water quality of all receiving waters.

Meeting the requirements of the Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) minimum control measure will enable the Town to eliminate any illicit discharges to the storm drainage system. An “illicit discharge” is any discharge to a drainage system that is not composed entirely of stormwater, with some exceptions. Illicit discharges could include sump pumps that discharge contaminated water to a storm drain system, or nearby septic system effluent entering storm drains. Such untreated discharges contribute high levels of pollutants, including heavy metals, toxics, oil and grease, solvents, nutrients, viruses, and bacteria to receiving waterbodies thereby degrading water quality and threatening the health of aquatic wildlife.

Because polluted stormwater runoff from construction sites often includes sediments, solids and sanitary wastes, phosphorous, nitrogen, pesticides, oil and grease, and construction debris it can become a serious contributor of pollutants to the Town’s receiving waters. The best management practices (BMPs) proposed to meet the Construction Site Stormwater Runoff minimum control measure will assist in controlling this type of polluted runoff to all waters.

Similarly, stormwater runoff flowing over areas altered by development can also pick up harmful sediment and chemicals such as oil and grease, pesticides, heavy metals, and nutrients and deposit them to Sterling’s receiving waters. The increased impervious surface that results from new developments in the community also interrupts the natural cycle of water so that it no longer gradually infiltrates through vegetation and soil but instead increases the quantity of water that is delivered to the receiving waters during a storm event. The proposed BMPs for the Post-Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment minimum control measure will assist the Town in controlling both the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff from these new developments. The Town will closely review new development and redevelopment projects that propose to discharge stormwater runoff to the Town’s receiving waters, or other areas of environmental concern, and mitigate the potential for an increase in the pollutants of concern.

The goal of the Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations minimum control measure is to improve and protect the quality of receiving waters by improving the performance of municipal operations and DPW facility management. Proposed BMPs such as formalizing the street sweeping, catch basin cleaning, and winter road maintenance programs, developing stormwater pollution prevention plans for municipal facilities, and conducting a DPW employee training program will assist in reducing the type of pollutants that collect on streets, parking lots, and DPW storage and vehicle maintenance areas.

This information only covers part of the Town’s SWMP. A full copy of the SWMP is provided at the link below.

Click here for Year 5 Annual Report General permit
Click here to view the SWMP

If you have any questions or comments on the SWMP, please contact the DPW

Below are some links for further information on this subject.

Stormwater Policies & Guidance