Major Accomplishments for

(July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006)

Background

In 1993, the Connecticut River Cleanup Committee (CRCC) formed to address combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the Connecticut River. CRCC is composed of representatives from five Massachusetts communities (Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, and South Hadley) and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC).  Each of the five member communities are under Administrative Orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address negative water quality impacts to the Connecticut River from CSOs. CRCC was formed through the signing of an intergovernmental compact between the communities and PVPC.  The committee is an action oriented entity that explores funding sources and opportunities for intermunicipal cooperation on river cleanup.

Stormwater and the Federal Mandate

In response to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Phase II program which came into effect in March of 2003, CRCC decided to form a Stormwater Subcommittee tasked with addressing the Public Education and Outreach requirements of the Phase II program. CRCC also decided to open membership to the Stormwater Subcommittee to any community within Hampshire and Hampden counties that is regulated under Phase II. PVPC mailed letters to all of the Phase II regulated communities in Hampshire and Hampden counties inviting their participation in the Stormwater Subcommittee. In August of 2005, the Stormwater Subcommittee formed between the nine member communities of Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, South Hadley, Agawam, Granby, Longmeadow, and Easthampton.

First Year Accomplishments

In its first year, the Stormwater Subcommittee has begun design of a multi-year regional public education and outreach program about stormwater. The goal of the program is greater awareness about how our daily activities affect the water resources around us. The first phase of the public outreach program was released in May of 2006 with information disseminated to the public through the newspaper, local cable access television stations, municipal websites, and WGBY Public Television. The outreach program instructs people in better ways to manage landscape fertilizers, pet waste, car washing, and leaking or waste automotive fluids. Each of these activities generates waste products that are picked up by stormwater runoff and transported to rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands causing pollution.

1. Formation of Stormwater Subcommittee
August 2005 letters sent to all NPDES Phase II regulated communities inviting participation in a regional public education and outreach program about stormwater. Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, South Hadley, Agawam, Granby, Longmeadow, and Easthampton form the Connecticut River Stormwater Subcommittee. The committee met five times between September 2005 and June 2006 to develop an outreach strategy that satisfied the individual goals and programming needs of the member communities. Discussion topics included mission and structure of the committee including fee structure; Community-Based Social Marketing as a tool for identifying behaviors and behavior modification tools; target audience; target behaviors; target pollutants; available research about water pollution sources and levels; media outlets and pricing; outreach programs from around the country; image, branding and logo; and, draft work plan for FY07.

2. Outreach Campaign Design
For the first year of the program, the committee agreed to utilize clever graphics and images from two outreach programs being conducted in Massachusetts. The decision not to reinvent the wheel was made mostly due to the limited funds available for design.

The first outreach program that was borrowed from was DEP’s Clean Water Tips. Although DEP had made the brochures available on their website, there hadn’t been any broader dissemination of the materials. The second program was being conducted by the Massachusetts Bays Program called Think Again Think Blue in the greater Boston area. The materials from these two outreach programs were used to develop a multimedia campaign for the Pioneer Valley region, specifically in the nine member communities.

3. Newspaper
Local newspapers are widely read throughout the region. PVPC contacted editors at the Turley Publications, The Longmeadow News, Reminder Publications, the Hampshire Gazette and The Republican in an effort to develop a regular spot about stormwater, water pollution and residential best management practices. Negotiations about a regular spot in several of these papers is underway and will be launched in August/September 2006.  PVPC released two press releases in May and June:

• Regional Stormwater Education Launched with background article entitled Why Stormwater? The Nexus Between Land Development Patterns and Water Quality and Quantity (4/18/06)
• Summer Lawn Care Practices May Be Bad For Waterways with background articles entitled Lawn Care Practices for a Healthy Watershed: Eight Steps to a Healthy and Attractive Lawn with Less Maintenance and Fewer Chemicals and Studies Documenting Chemical Inputs to Waterways from Landscapes and Their Effect on Human and Environmental Health (6/8/06)
These press releases along with verbal communications with editors and reporters resulted in the following published articles:
• Communities Work Together on Regional Stormwater Program. Reminder: March 22-28, 2006
• Nonpoint Source Pollutants, A Main Contributor to Water Problems. West Springfield Record: May 4, 2006.
• Lawn Care Practices for a Healthy Watershed – 8 Steps. West Springfield Record: July 13, 2006.

4. Community Cable Access Television
PVPC worked with the local cable access television stations in eight of the nine member communities (Granby doesn’t have a station) to air two videos about stormwater, watershed ecology, Low Impact Development and other best management practices. Programs to be run weekly May through August during primetime. The two films provided to the stations were:

Eckert, David.  Reining in the Storm: One Building at a Time.  Virginia Village
Productions. 2004
United States Environmental Protection Agency and The Weather Channel. After the Storm. The Weather Channel 2004.

Community Cable Channels	Programming Notes
Springfield –  Channel 15	After the Storm ran through July and August about 4 time daily and as a time spot filler when needed.
Ludlow – Ludlow Community TV	Videos run through May and June  - 3 times a day at 1pm, 8pm and 3 am
Easthampton Community Cable	Data not available
Longmeadow Community Television	Data not available
Holyoke Community Cable Channel	Broadcasting the four MADEP Clean Water Tip .pdf as stills throughout the month of July.
Chicopee Media Education Center	Broadcast After The Storm in June: June 26 @ 7:00PM, June 27 @ 8:00PM, June 28 @ 9:00PM,  July 24 @ 7:00PM, July 25 @ 8:00PM, July 26 @ 11:00AM, - July 26 @ 9:00PM
Agawam Community Cable	Both films were broadcast regularly in May and June during a majority of daytime hours and at least 6 primetime weekday spots.
South Hadley	Both films were shown through May and June on a rotating schedule at least 3 time each day.
Granby	Broadcasts at 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm daily

5. WGBY Public Television
Beginning August 1, 2006, WGBY will broadcast a 13 week sponsorship of ROS Local Programming consisting of two 15 second spots per week. The spots will run in the 7:30 pm time slot at the beginning or close of the broadcast of local programming (Making It Here). Additionally, WGBY will produce four 15 second spots that will be made available to our member communities for download/podcast from town websites or local cable access television. The spots will be generated from still photographs, other graphics and logos provided by the client and voice over, taped by WGBY.

6. Web Based Outreach
PVPC worked with the Stormwater Committee member communities to post DEP’s four Clean Water Tips on the municipal websites as .pdf documents. The .pdf documents are two pages discussing topics such as fertilizers, automotive oil, car washing, and pet waste and their potential to cause water pollution. Copies of these documents are included in the Appendix. The .pdf files were posted on the following web sites:

http://www.pvpc.org             Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
http://www.agawam.ma.us             Town of Agawam’s DPW Stormwater webpage
http://www.ludlow.ma.us             Town of Ludlow’s DPW webpage

7. Grant Writing
PVPC compiled a grant application to EPA’s Environmental Education Grant program requesting $15,000 to design an education program for the general public about watershed ecology and the effects of peak flows on water quality. This grant was not funded. EPA received 84 proposals requesting over $1.6 million and had only $189,000 to award in this fiscal year.

STORMWATER SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS

Tracy DeMaio	Stormwater Coordinator	Town of Agawam
Georganne Hoyman	Town Engineer	Town of Agawam
Tom Hamel	Chief Operator	Water Pollution Control
Joe Kietner	Lab Technician	City of Chicopee
Melissa Labonte	IPP/Stormwater Coordinator	South Hadley WWTP
Stanley Kulig*	Superintendent	Dept of Public Works
Stuart Beckley	City Planner	City of Easthampton
Joe Pipcynski	Director - Public Works	City of Easthampton
Dave Desrosiers	Highway Superintendent	Town of Granby
William Fuqua*	Superintendent	Holyoke Dept of Public Works
Matthew Sokop, P.E.	Assistant Superintendent	City of Holyoke
Mike Wrabel	Public Works Director	Town of Longmeadow
Matt Christy	Assistant Engineer	Ludlow Public Works
Paul Dzubek*	Director - Public Works	Town of Ludlow
Jim Goodreau	Assistant Engineer	Ludlow Public Works
Gregory Kereakoglow*	Superintendent	Dept. of Public Works
Kurt Boisjolie*		MA DEP
Doug Borgatti*		Springfield Water/Sewer Commission
Robert Stoops, P.E.*	Chief Engineer	Springfield Water/Sewer Commission
Stan Tenerowicz	Environmental Affairs Administrator	Springfield Conservation Commission
Anne Capra	Senior Planner / Manager	Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
* Members of the CT River Cleanup Committee