September
23, 2000
Inside
this Issue!
1.
PUBLIC MEETINGS - Public Hearings to Address Water Pollution from
Forestry Practices!
2.
EVENT - ALASKA SLIDE SHOW:
Alaska Comes to Tennessee
3.
EVENT\ - ADOPT-A-RIVER
EVENT: OCTOBER
7
4.
RESOURCE: New Summary
of Final TMDL Rule Available
5.
ACTION ALERT: Tell the Clinton Administration to Get Raw Sewage Out of Our
Waters. SEND EASY INTERNET
MESSAGE BY LOGGING ONTO NRDC WEBSITE!
6.
RESOURCE: Online Access to a Wealth of Water Quality Data
7.
NEWS – Governor Signs Interbasin Transfer Act
8.
CONFERENCE: Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring: Overcoming Boundaries
9.
PUBLIC
NOTICES FROM U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
************************
***1.
PUBLIC HEARINGS TO ADDRESS WATER POLLUTION FROM FORESTRY PRACTICES
Tennessee
is holding a series of hearings before the Department of Agriculture to
consider adoption and promulgation of Silvicultural Best Management Practices
rules and Stop Work Orders rules pursuant to the Tennessee Code Annotated
(T.C.A.) Section 69-3-101.
DATE
HEARING LOCATION
TIME
October
26, 2000
Pellissippi State Technical Community College
7:00 p.m. EDT
10915 Hardin Valley Rd
Knoxville, TN 37933
Goins Administration Bldg. Auditorium
Parking permitted in open lot #3 (03) ONLY
October
30, 2000 Ellington Agricultural Center
7:00 p.m. CST
Ed Jones Auditorium
440 Hogan Road
Nashville, TN 37220
November
2, 2000 West
Tennessee Experiment Station
7:00 p.m. CST
Room 158
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson, TN 38301
The
proposed rules are available at the following webaddress: www.state.tn.us/environment/wpc/forestry.htm
***2.
ALASKA SLIDE SHOW: Alaska Comes to Chattanooga,
Knoxville and Nashville the Last Week of September
For
anyone who has been to Alaska or who has had a hankering to visit our
49th state the Alaska Wilderness League and the Alaska National Parks
Conservation Alaska Campaign's Wild Alaska Night is for you.
John
Rosapepe of NPCA will present a slideshow on our magnificent Alaska National
Parks and the threats they face in the 21st century. Learn how you can
protect and continue to preserve one of our nation's great legacies. Renowed
wildlife photographer Lenny Kohm will give a multi-media presentation
on the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge's coastal plain and the incredible diversity of animals that are
found there (e.g., polar bears, wolves and the 140,000 Porcupine Caribou
Herd). "The Last Great Wilderness"
Admission free at all events
Monday, September 25
Knoxville
7:30
pm
Tennessee
Valley Unitarian Church
2931
Kingston Pike
Knoxville,
TN 37919
Thurs.
September 28
Chattanooga
6:30pm
Tennessee
Aquarium Auditorium
201
Chestnut Street
Chattanooga,
TN 37401
Contact:
Betty Miles 800 262 0695 x3008
Sponsored
by: Tennessee Aquarium
Friday,
September 29
Nashville
7:30pm
Edge
Hill United Methodist Church
1502
Edge Hill Ave (near Vanderbilt)
Contact:
Eric Lewis
Sponsored
by: Nashville Sierra Club, Audubon Society
***3.
ADOPT-A-RIVER EVENT: OCTOBER
7
RIVER
LOVERS: GET YOUR FEET WET!
Tennessee
Scenic Rivers Association
Adopt-A-River
Seminar 2000
Saturday,
Oct. 7
9:00
am - 3:00 pm
Edwin
Warner Park, Picnic Shelter #9 (off Vaughn Road)
NASHVILLE
Bring
a Bag Lunch, Snacks and Beverages Provided
Discover
the Joys of River Adoption
-
how to watch over your favorite stream
-
how to check its biological health
-
how to organize a clean-up
-
who to call if you need help
Open
to the public. Free parking.
***4.
New Summary of Final TMDL Rule Available
A
summary of EPA’s final TMDL rule is now available on CWN’s web site. Go
to www.cwn.org and click on TMDLs. This summary was written by representatives
of groups working on this issue, including those that support and those
that oppose the new rule. CWN thanks everyone who helped put this together
for their time and patience in preparing this objective overview of the
new rule. The July 13, 2000 final rule can be viewed on EPA’s website
at www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/finalrule/.
***5.
ACTION ALERT: Tell the Clinton Administration to Get Raw Sewage Out of Our
Waters. SEND EASY INTERNET
MESSAGE BY LOGGING ONTO NRDC WEBSITE!
Sanitary
sewers are designed to carry wastes from buildings to sewage treatment
plants. When these sewers are overloaded, inadequately
maintained or obstructed, however, the overflows dump raw and inadequately
treated sewage into basements, streets, and waterways, instead of delivering
the waste to the treatment plant. Sewer overflows contain bacteria and
viruses, fecal matter, untreated industrial wastes, toilet paper, tampon
applicators, oxygen-depleting substances, and a host of other wastes.
These overflows cause beach closings, fish kills and shellfish bed closures.
Pathogens in sewage-contaminated waters can cause gastrointestinal and
respiratory illnesses, dysentery, and hepatitis. The consequences of contact
with sewage-infested waters are even greater for children, the elderly,
and those with weakened immune systems.
In
May 1999, President Clinton directed the Environmental Protection Agency
to develop, within one year, a strong national regulation to prevent the
over 40,000 annual sanitary sewer overflows that contaminate beaches and
jeopardize health. The EPA met the deadline and drafted regulations that
would require raw sewage to be treated before it is discharged, but so
far the Office of Management and Budget has refused to release those regulations.
Take
Action!
Send
a message to John Spotila, administrator of the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs at OMB – and the person who is holding up these
rules. If you have Internet access, you can send a letter on-line by going
to NRDC’s action center at
***6.
ONLINE ACCESS TO A WEALTH OF WATER-QUALITY DATA
Check
out this website! USGS Water
Quality Data Warehouse: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/data
A
new online data warehouse of 6.5 million records enables water resource
managers, scientists, and the public to find data about the quality of
the water at 2,800 stream sites and 5,000 wells in 46 states, according
to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Types
of information include:
·
Site, well and network (groups of sites with similar characteristics
or sampling regime) information and descriptive variables like land use.
·
Daily streamflow and temperature information for repeated sampling
sites.
·
Chemical concentrations in water, sediment and aquatic organisms.
***7.
GOVERNOR SIGNS INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER ACT
Ensures
protection of Tennessee’s water supply
CHATTANOOGA
– Saying that Tennessee’s water supply will be protected, Gov. Don Sundquist
today signed the Inter-Basin Water Transfer Act. "This legislation helps restore our confidence that
water will be as available to Tennesseans in the 21st century as it has
been for the last 204 years," Sundquist said during the ceremonial
bill signing held in Coolidge Park. "If we have water to share, we
now have a tool in place to make sure we do so in a thoughtful and informed
way."
The
act ensures that the state’s water supply will be protected. The state
now has the authority to determine whether or not it is appropriate to
transfer water from one river basin to another. The Tennessee Department
of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) is in the process of establishing
rules to implement the plan and seeking public input for permanent regulations.
Under
this law, municipal water providers and those who sell water for public
use must obtain a permit from TDEC before they can transfer water between
river basins. These are not common transfers now, but are expected to
be more frequent as Tennessee grows. The law would not affect farming
activity or most industries.
***8.
CONFERENCE: Volunteer
Water Quality Monitoring:Overcoming Boundaries
Workshop
for Leaders of Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs October 5-6,
2000, Washington, DC
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Oceans and Coastal Protection
Division, in partnership with the Center for Marine Conservation,
is coordinating a two-day volunteer water quality monitoring workshop
in Washington, DC.
Who
Should Attend
*
Leaders of volunteer water quality monitoring programs
*
Teachers conducting student water quality monitoring programs
*
Local, state, regional, and federal agencies working with water
quality issues
Workshop
Benefits
The
workshops provide useful tools for all volunteer water quality monitoring
groups. Organizations new
to water quality monitoring will learn how to establish or improve monitoring
operations, ensure the quality of data collected, and enhance training
efforts. Groups with more
experience in volunteer monitoring will be able to share their experiences
with sampling, monitoring equipment, fundraising, and other topics.
No
Registration Fee!
Financial
Assistance Available
***9. TWO
(2) PUBLIC NOTICES FROM U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
JOINT
PUBLIC NOTICES
US
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
AND
STATE OF TENNESSEE
1. PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 00-89 DATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 2000
SUBJECT: Proposed Channel Relocation and Mitigation
for Unnamed Tributary, in
Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee
TO ALL CONCERNED: The application described below
has been submitted for a
Department of the Army Permit pursuant to Section
404 of the Clean Water Act (33
U.S.C.
1344).
APPLICANT: City of Franklin, P.O. Box 305, Franklin,
Tennessee 37065
LOCATION: Site One - Channel Relocation and Mitigation
Site on Unnamed TributaryMile 0.5, a tributary to Harpeth River Mile 87.7R,
along Liberty Pike, in Franklin,Williamson County, Tennessee (Franklin
Quad; lat 35-55-28.0200, lon 86-49-25.1400)
Site Two – Mitigation Site on Unnamed Tributary Mile
0.8, a tributary to Watson Branch and Harpeth River Mile 89.2R, near Curd
Lane, in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee (Franklin Quad; lat 35-55-26.0400,
lon 86-48-58.3920)
DESCRIPTION: The proposed work consists of placing
approximately 485’ of an existing concrete-lined channel into approximately
the same distance of 54” pipe culvert along Liberty Pike. This unnamed
tributary is a small, spring-fed stream which has been impacted in the
past by concrete-lining. Mitigation of this proposal would include removing
a 120’ section of concrete-lining on the same tributary and restore the
streambed to an open channel (see Sheets 3 and 4 for mitigation details
of Site One). The proposed mitigation would consist of restoring the stream
to a gravel bottom, creating riffle and pool sections, and constructing
a cross section of 3’ wide in pool areas and 10’ wide in riffle areas
with 2:1 side slopes. Pin Oak seedlings would be planted along each side
of the stream on two alternating rows.
In addition to mitigation at Site One, stream restoration
is proposed on another unnamed tributary (see Site Two on plans). This
mitigation would involve restoring approximately 400’ of stream that has
significantly been impacted in the past from dumping and unauthorized
fill activities. Approximately 50’ of the 400’ would be impacted in the
future by a proposed culverted road crossing. Mitigation at this site
would be similar to the mitigation at Site One with first creating a defined
channel bed (see Sheets 5 and 6 for mitigation details). The purpose of
the channel relocation is to allow the proposed roadway expansion and
realignment of Liberty Pike with bike lanes, provide a safer route in
the developing area, and provide access to currently undeveloped property.
Plans of the proposed work are attached to this notice.
Any person may request, in writing, within the comment
period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider
this application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity,
the reasons for holding a public hearing. Written statements received
in this office on or before October 13, 2000, will become a part of the
record and will be considered in the determination. Any response to this
notice should be directed to the Regulatory Branch, Attention: Amy Robinson,
at the above address, telephone (615) 736-2759.
2. PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 00-83 DATE: AUGUST 29, 2000
SUBJECT:
Proposed Wetland Filling to Facilitate the Construction
of the Sevier Senior
Center along U.S. Highway 441 in Sevierville, Sevier
County, Tennessee
TO
ALL CONCERNED: The application described
below has been submitted for a Department of the Army (DA) permit pursuant
to Section 404 of the Clean Water
Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). Before a permit can be issued, certification
must be provided by the State of Tennessee, Division of Water Pollution
Control, pursuant to Section 401(a)(1) of the CWA, that applicable water
quality standards will not be violated. By copy of this notice, the applicant
hereby applies for the required certification.
APPLICANT:
Sevier County Economic Development Council 215 Court,
Suite 300 Sevierville, TN 37864
LOCATION:
North side of U.S. Highway 441 in Sevierville, Sevier
County, Tennessee; Gists Creek, Tributary to Pigeon River, Mile 1.0, Left
Bank, Pigeon Forge, TN Quadrangle (156-SE), Latitude: 35°-52’-17.1”, Longitude:
83°-35’-45.4”.
DESCRIPTION:
The applicant proposes the construction of a Senior
Center and associated driveways and parking areas just east of Sevierville
along U.S. Highway 441. Future development on the southwestern portion
of the site may include construction of an additional building. The permit
application includes the proposed alteration for the entire site, even
through the Senior Center is the only structure proposed at this time.
The proposed development would result in the filling of 1.01 acres of
wetlands to facilitate the proposal on the 13 acre site. Mitigation would
consist of the restoration of wetlands in the northwest corner of the
site, within the floodway. The proposed mitigation area currently contains
0.38 acres of wetlands. An additional 2.02 acres of wetland would be
developed to increase the total wetland area to 2.4
acres.
The mitigation would be accomplish by a) removing
and stockpiling the topsoil from the mitigation area, b) undercutting
approximately 1.0 to 1.5 feet of material, c) replacing the topsoil. The
shallow water table at the site would provide the majority of the water
to establish the wetland. A small, narrow channel (3’ wide by 12” deep)
would be excavated to provided additional hydrology from an unnamed tributary
of Gists Creek. A variety
of trees and shrubs would be planted on 30’ centers to enhance the existing
wetlands, provide habitat diversity, and stabilize the mitigation area.
A monitoring program would be implemented for a five year period.
Any person may request, in writing, within the comment
period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider
this application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity,
the reasons for holding a public hearing. Written statements received
in this office on or before September 28, 2000, will become a part of
the record and will be considered in the determination. Responses to this
notice should be directed to the Regulatory Branch, Attention: Marty G.
Tyree, at the above address, telephone (615) 736-5183.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Visit
our website (www.tcwn.org) to find more detailed information and take
advantage of our "message board" to post your questions, comments,
or
concerns
for all to review and respond.
Comments
and submissions for the newsletter are welcome.
Send to [email protected]
or to [email protected]
Thanks for your
participation!
Tennessee
Clean Water Network
Box
1521
Knoxville,
TN 37901
(865)
974-4884 (TCWN office)
(865)
494-9786 (Catherine Sheehy, TCWN Staff)
(865)
607-2138 (Danielle Droitsch, TCWN Staff)
