EC&S Environmental Consulting, Civil Engineering, Surveying

Soil erosion control during construction has become a high profile issue in northern Michigan. News articles detailing severe erosion problems along sensitive environmental areas, such as streams and lakes, cast an unfavorable light on projects. Often the success of these projects depends on the natural beauty of the area. Even more important than the public relations considerations are the overall impacts on the natural resources. Remediating erosion problems delays schedules, increases costs, and increases the focus of regulators on your project.

The challenge of designing to prevent soil erosion requires an understanding of why soils erode, and what factors influence the potential for erosion. With that understanding, the basic principals for prevention and controlling erosion become apparent. Although erosion can occur from wind or ice, falling and flowing water is the issue of most concern to projects in our area.

Soil erosion results from raindrops falling directly on ground and dislodging soil particles, sheet flow of water over a wide area transporting these particles, and the runoff concentrating in a gully or channel with velocity sufficient to erode the sides or bottom of the channel. Whether a slope erodes or not depends on the intensity of the rainfall and runoff, slope length and gradient, soil characteristics, and vegetative cover. The factors changed during a construction project include slope length and gradient, vegetative cover, and, occasionally, soil characteristics.

How is erosion controlled? One way could be to hope that it wouldn't rain during construction - if the project is small enough and you have scheduling flexibility. Projects that take longer than a day will require a more than just a hope it won't rain. Controlling erosion requires the engineer, developer and contractor to be aware of the modifications the construction has on the land, and adhere to the following five basic principals:

Keep disturbed areas small
Stabilize and protect disturbed areas as soon as possible
Keep storm water velocities low
Protect disturbed areas from storm water runoff
Retain sediment within the site area

The most direct way to control the potential for erosion is to minimize the area under construction, and to stabilize the disturbed areas as soon as they can be restored. Grass is the least expensive and most effective material for permanent control of eroding soils. This approach should be used where possible, but many projects require significant earthwork, and take place over a long period of time.

Larger and longer-term projects necessitate using techniques to reduce water velocities, protect areas from excessive runoff, and retain sediment within the site area. These techniques are normally "mechanical" in nature, consisting of constructed check dams, diversion swales, sediment ponds, berms, and drains. Materials such as rip-rap, filter fabric, hay bails, and stone filters are used, and the designs much be coordinated so that all of the erosion control measures work together. These measures must be inspected after rainfall events, and maintained on a regular basis. A well-prepared plan with proper installation and maintenance can minimize adverse impacts to adjacent properties.

Can a properly designed soil erosion system fail? Unfortunately, it is possible. The amount of rainfall the system is designed to accommodate could be exceeded, materials could be defective, and unknown subsurface conditions - such as an intermittent spring - could all create situations where the capacity of the system is exceeded. With proper design and foresight, even the impacts of the unexpected situations can be minimized.

Soil erosion is a situation that must be addressed for the preservation of the integrity of our natural resources. With a thorough understanding of the factors that cause erosion, a design can be developed and implemented to minimize or eliminate unnecessary erosion brought about by construction.

The Environmental Site Assessment process is conducted to assist in the evaluation of the environmental condition of a property prior to purchase. The process consists of several phases that are designed to provide adequate information for the environmental professional to render an opinion of the condition of the property that the user can rely upon in making an informed buying decision.

The specific purpose of an Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is to permit the user to satisfy one of the requirements necessary to qualify for the innocent landowner defense to CERCLA liability for environmental clean up; that is, the practice that constitutes "all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property."

The initial step to fulfilling a purchaser's (or other user's) due diligence is to have a Phase I ESA or a Transaction Screen conducted.

The Transaction Screen is a less in depth investigation into prior uses of the site than a Phase I ESA. However, a Transaction Screen may satisfy the appropriate inquiry requirement if there is reputable knowledge that previous uses of the site did not include uses of hazardous substances. If the results of the Transaction Screen indicate otherwise, the investigation will need to be expanded to a Phase I ESA, involving more extensive research, in order to satisfy the appropriate inquiry standard.

We will discuss the next step in Environmental Site Assessments in our next newsletter.

WHAT IS A RED-TAGGED UST?
During the last year, the Michigan Underground Storage Tank (UST) Division of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has placed red tags on out of compliance USTs. These red tags prevent the delivery of additional fuel into the underground storage tank.

Pursuant to Michigan Underground Storage Tank rules, a UST system shall not be temporarily closed for more than 12 months. Therefore, owners or operators of these USTs must either upgrade, replace or permanently close non-compliant USTs no later than December 22, 1999.

UST owners or operators that are not in compliance will face action from the state.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES INVOLVED?
Owners and operators who fail to upgrade, remove or properly close substandard USTs by December 22, 1999 are subject to misdemeanor prosecution, and/or civil fines.

COMPLIANT USTS MAY BE RED-TAGGED
Pursuant to Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) rules, facilities that haven't satisfied the DEQ past LUST reporting or investigative requirements, will also be targeted by the DEQ by the following:

3. Perform the required corrective actions utilizing public funding, and seek cost recovery against the liable owners and operators. The DEQ may also place a lien against the property to secure the recovery of all costs incurred by the state.

The MDEQ plans to get aggressive on their enforcement and we would like to offer our assistance to those that this increased enforcement will effect.

Over the past 10 months, EC&S, known to many of you for our expertise in Environmental Engineering, has grown to meet the needs and expectations of our customers by the addition of two key service areas: Civil Engineering and Surveying.

In July, EC&S added civil engineering to our roster of services. We brought Garth Greenan, P.E., on board to head up our Civil Engineering division. Garth has over 21 years of civil engineering experience specializing in site design and engineering for commercial, residential and industrial development projects. His expertise on drainage, sanitary sewer systems and stormwater concerns makes him one of the leading Professional Engineers in the state on water quality issues. Along with our Professional Engineer, the Civil Engineering division employs a senior engineering technician, two CAD operators and a testing specialist.

The purchase of Walker Land Surveying was completed in late February of this year. Howard Walker, who has over 14 years of experience, remains on board as the Head of the Surveying Department. There are two field crews in place, allowing EC&S to respond quickly to the needs of our clients.

The addition of these two services has allowed EC&S to keep up with the needs of our customers and keep pace with the ever-changing marketplace. We are proud to be able to be YOUR full service environmental/civil/survey consultant to assist with your individual property needs.

The EPA has a Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program which funds the first dollars needed for a brownfield redevelopment program and, more importantly, to implement the program which will result in sustained clean-up, redevelopment and revitalization of the Pilot area and the surrounding areas. Deadline for applications for the year 2000 awards of these funds is Feb. 16, 2000.

To date, the EPA has funded 226 Pilots (each funded up to $200,000 over two years). Michigan's most recent grant was awarded to Antrim County.

1. Site identification, site characterization, and cleanup planning and design.

2. Planning and/or studies regarding legal, fiscal, economic and other issues related to assessment or cleanup action.

3. Public/community involvement in decisions regarding environmental assessment, redevelopment plans and cleanup at affected sites.

In order to secure these funds a proposal must be submitted to the EPA emphasizing true need and appropriate use of funds. There is only one review of these proposals slated for the year 2000 and the deadline for submission (February 16, 2000) is fast approaching. Applications submitted after this date will not be accepted.

Don't miss out on this opportunity. Let us help you explore and understand the benefits that this EPA Grant can deliver to your community EC&S has application information and would be happy to respond to your questions and/or help guide you through the process.

Scheduling a development project can be complex and challenging, especially during fall and winter, when weather, hunting season, the holidays, and everybody's workload is busy. One question that we, as surveyors and engineers, often get is: "If I begin now, when can I start construction?"

Several factors enter into the consideration of how long it takes to start with a raw piece of land and end up with property ready for construction. If the property is able to be split and doesn't require the construction of a roadway, a couple of weeks may be sufficient to complete the survey, write the descriptions for the new parcels, and file the required documentation with the Municipality. This is the quickest and easiest method, but limits the size and number of parcels.

If the development is more complex, such as a site condominium or commercial lot, then many factors must be considered. In addition to the survey and site design, rezoning may be required, along with site plan approvals by the municipality, county drain office approval, road commission approval, health department approvals for on-site water wells and sewage disposal or MDEQ for offsite water and sewer. It's never too early to start the process for a complex project.

For more information about any of the topics presented in this newsletter, or any other environmental, civil engineering/land development or surveying questions, please contact EC&S at (231) 941-2366 (Traverse City) or (517) 356-8764 (Alpena).