TN Clean Water News #21
October 16, 2001
Inside this Issue!
1. EARLY BIRD CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY! Conference on
Water and Sprawl
2. PRESS CONFERENCES ? Celebrate the kick-off of the 30th Anniversary of the
Clean Water Act
3. Featured Water Resource of the Month--The Plain Language Guide to Sanitary
Sewer Overflows
4. RESOURCE: Stormwater Strategies.New and Improved!
5. PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Water Board Votes to Protect High Quality Tennessee
Waters And Fall Creek Falls State Park
6. RESOURCE ? What's up with our nation's waters
1. TCWN Annual Conference: EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION DEADLINE
SATURDAY:
OCTOBER 20 (Scholarship Application Deadline is also October 20)
Clean Water and Sprawl in Tennessee:
How to Make a Difference
Co-sponsored by Tennessee Clean Water Network and
Tennessee Environmental Council
Featuring Jim Hightower Conference Keynote Speaker
November 10-11, 2001 at Lakeside Resort in Smithville, Tennessee on
Centerhill Lake/Caney Fork River
Go to our website for our most updated conference schedule, registration and
scholarship application information! www.tcwn.org
2. PRESS CONFERENCES, October 18, 2001
Press Conferences Announce Time to Keep the Promise of Clean Water We encourage
people to attend the press conferences and show their support!!!
PRESS CONFERENCES
Nashville: 2:00 p.m. CST
Riverfront Park, Court of Flags area. Location is in the park near the
intersection of Broadway and First Avenue. Local contact: Will Callaway
615-248-6500
Chattanooga: 10:00 a.m. EST
Walnut Bridge in downtown Chattanooga. Local contact: Sandy Kurtz
423.892.5237 (home) or 423.488.5668 (cell)
Knoxville: 2:00 p.m. EST
Third Creek Greenway Parking Lot off Neyland Drive next to the UT Agricultural
Experiment Station. Local contact: Marcy Reed 865.691.8807
Crossville: Meet at 2:30 CST at the Believers Fellowship Church on
Porcelain Stone Drive in Crossville. Porcelain Stone Drive is West off Main St.
(Route 127) at the first signal south of Route 40. The
Church is the first building on the right. Meet in parking lot before
driving a short distance to view the condition of streams as construction
continues in the Crossroads Business Park.
3. Featured Water Resource of the Month--The Plain Language Guide to
Sanitary Sewer Overflows
Clean Water Network member and Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) expert Sarah
Meyland with Citizens Campaign for the Environment in New York, as well as other
experts in the field, have written a wonderful handbook on the basics of
SSOs and what citizens can do to eliminate them. The guide, produced by
the Citizens Environmental Research Institute, is a comprehensive guide that
includes basic information about how sewer collection systems work, what causes
SSOs, and what laws and regulations pertain to SSOs. It also contains
tools for real-life applications of the guide including costs for SSO reduction
programs, sample reports for recording SSOs events, and operator training
resources. The publication is available for $15 plus $3 shipping and
handling. Checks should be made out to "CERI". Please make
sure to specifically request the report by its title. Requests should be
sent to: CERI Publications, 225 Main St., Suite 2, Farmingdale, NY, 11735.
4: RESOURCE: Stormwater Strategies.New and Improved!
In 1999 NRDC released a new report that described the problems associated with
stormwater and documented numerous successful strategies employed by communities
around the country. NRDC has turned that unique report into a handy CD-ROM
that allows the user to search through more than 100 model case studies,
contacts, and resources. In addition, the new CD-ROM includes case studies
on low impact development. All Network members will be receiving a copy of
this CD-ROM in the mail in the
upcoming months. Please distribute information from this resource to other
groups concerned with this issue including your state and local water pollution
control and land use management agencies! If you do not receive a CD-ROM,
please contact Carol James with NRDC at [email protected]
5. PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Water Board Votes to Protect High Quality
Tennessee Waters And Fall Creek Falls State Park
In a surprising development, the Tennessee Water Quality Control Board voted to
reverse its 16-month-old decision to allow discharge of municipal waste water
into Dry Fork Creek, which flows into Fall Creek Falls State Park. The
water board's original decision of May 2000 allowed treated sewage discharge
from a new sewage treatment plant in Spencer, Tennessee to be discharged into a
high quality mountain stream, Dry Fork Creek. The original decision to allow the
discharge was the first ever decision in Tennessee to permit intentional
degradation of a known high quality water, known as a Tier II stream.
This week's precedent setting move to reverse the original decision and withdraw
the discharge permit for Spencer, Tennessee is important for several reasons.
First, it provides protection to Dry Fork Creek, a
pristine mountain stream that flows underground into an extensive cave system
that supplies drinking water springs downstream and is home to rare and
sensitive cave species of fish and crayfish. These waters eventually flow into
Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee's most visited state park.
6. RESOURCE - What's Up With Our Nation's Waters?
Do you know what percentage of our nation's waters are clean, what
pollutes the waters that aren't, and what you can do to help? EPA has
produced a 24-page booklet, designed primarily for children aged 10
to15, that presents key findings of the National Water Quality Inventory in an
easy-to-read format. The booklet includes projects for school or for fun,
a water quiz, a glossary, and a list of resources for more
information. What's Up With Our Nation's Waters? can be viewed at www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/nationswaters/waters.pdf.
It is also available in hard copy from EPA's National Service Center for
Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198; please include the
publication number when ordering: EPA 841-F-00-005.
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Tennessee Clean Water Network E-News
This newsletter is intended to provide a quick look at current clean Water
issues in Tennessee, in addition to resources available to the concerned
citizen.
If you would like to become a member of the Tennessee Clean Water Network and
receive our more in depth newsletter, please check our website at www.tcwn.org
or contact us at 865-494-3243. Thanks!
Visit our website (www.tcwn.org) to find more
detailed information.
Comments and submissions for the newsletter are welcome. Send to [email protected]
or to [email protected].
