Like others involved with issuing or enforcing sediment control permits, Leo Galanko, CPESC, CPSWQ, is seeing how the dramatic drop in home construction activity due to the current economic recession is affecting stormwater quality.
Galanko is a senior permitting services specialist for Montgomery County, MD. There, he explains, many residential development projects have slowed to a snail’s pace, while work on others has simply ceased as projects are put on hold until the housing market improves. In the meantime, temporary erosion and sediment control BMPs are being left in place, often for longer than originally designed. In some cases, it seems more difficult to get cash-strapped builders to maintain these BMPs. In others, construction of permanent stormwater BMPs is being delayed.
“Sediment levels in streams are increasing, and we attribute much of this to the fact that installation of permanent stormwater measures has been deferred, even though additional imperviousness has already been added,” Galanko says.
Faster Phasing
To help remedy this problem, last summer the county stepped up the pace of phased development, which it requires for subdivisions in environmentally sensitive or special-protection areas.
“In the past, permanent stormwater management structures weren’t installed for a subdivision until the entire project had been developed and permanently stabilized,” Galanko explains. “Now, as smaller portions of the total project-such as development of four or five lots on a cul-de-sac-are finished, developers must stabilize the area and replace temporary BMPs, like a sediment trap, with a permanent stormwater management system.” Eventually, this policy will be adopted in other areas of the county.
As he points out, developers usually prefer to install all permanent stormwater management structures, such as sand or biofilters, at the end of the project, when they can do it all at one time to minimize mobilization expenses. This new approach adds to their costs. “Reaction among developers has been fairly favorable, and they haven’t been too resistant,” Galanko says. “Generally, they want to see a good outcome on their projects.”
Timely Stabilization
Beginning last spring, the Land Development Division of the City of Charlotte in North Carolina began noticing a downward trend in the number of new home building permits. That’s when the city started focusing on getting active sites stabilized in a timely manner in the event that developers started pulling out of their projects, reports Steve Gucciardi, CPESC, the city’s senior erosion control coordinator.
“We figured it was just a matter of time before the large inventory of unsold homes and foreclosures impacted home builders,” he says. “So, we blitzkrieged all construction sites to make sure they were meeting the requirement to stabilize them within 21 calendar days after any construction activity had stopped. When development came to a standstill in October, the majority of sites were in good shape before the builders pulled out.”
Still, a handful of problems remains-including a 55-acre subdivision that the developer abandoned. As of May, however, the lender for the project had not yet taken over. In the meantime, the penalty for failing to properly control sediment at this site had climbed to several hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. “We’re grappling with what to do to bring the site into compliance,” Gucciardi says. “We don’t have the legal authority to place a tax lien on the project, and we can’t withhold a certificate of occupancy, because no structures are completed. I’m glad we got a head start on stabilizing the other developments. Otherwise, we’d be facing some pretty big erosion and sediment control problems.”
Other Approaches
In Gwinnett County, GA, where development activity began dropping off in early 2008, the effort to control sediment on abandoned construction sites involves educating the new owners about proper long-term maintenance of structural BMPs. Most of these sites, have since revegetated naturally to control erosion, notes Ken Kagy, P.E., CPESC, CPSWQ, a senior engineer with the county’s planning and development. “It can be difficult finding the new property owners, who are responsible for this maintenance,” he says.
On the other side of the country, in Bellevue, WA, work has stopped at only about two-dozen residential construction sites, mostly single-family homes, says Tom McFarlane, P.E., CPESC. He supervises the city’s clearing and grading reviews and inspections. “Most erosion control was in pretty good shape when construction work slowed, because local developers are accustomed to our strong erosion control standards,” he says. “If problems develop due to lack of maintenance at these sites, the city will take care of it and back-charge the costs to the builder.
