10/27/2010 Environmental Board Minutes

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ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 4 He stated Stormwater Runoff is the number one cause of water pollution. This problem is affecting out local lakes. Rice Lake and Lake Baldwin are off the charts. The problem is not that people don’t care. They are not aware of how they affect our lakes. The five main Pollutants are: Sediment, Nutrients, Bacteria, Toxics and Heat Sediment comes from construction sites, roads, eroded soil, etc. This interferes with recreation, destroys habitat and carries other pollutants that adhere to the dirt particles. Nutrients: Fertilizer, runoff enters water and promotes algae growth, one pound of phosphorus can produce up to 500 pounds of algae, excess of algae negatively impacts a lake’s ecosystem. Bacteria: High levels of fecal bacteria. The bacteria comes from pet and wildlife feces, etc. Toxics: Poisons, yard chemicals, metals from roofing materials. Heat: Animals such as trout require the water temp to be within a certain range, stormwater runoff from hot roofs, roads, parking lots, and other surfaces can raise water temperatures above their tolerance. IMPACT: Ecosystem disturbance: destroys habitat, kills off species Aesthetic Impact: odor, color, turbidity Human Health Prevention/Solutions: Keep streets, sidewalks and driveways clean; Mark your storm drain; Take your car to a car wash; use zero phosphorus fertilizer; save water & money by collecting rainwater from your downspouts with a rain barrel to water your plants. Ms. O’Dea questioned who Mr. Pehoski will be presenting his presentation to. He stated schools and young people. He stated he focused mainly on reducing the impact on Rice Lake through storm stenciling. He believes the lake was recently put on the impacted list. He stated his group stenciled 165 drains. The task took about 1½ hours to complete. Roughly about 3 minutes per drain. The drains read: Dump no waste, drains to lake. He said his group distributed about 566 fliers to the neighborhood directly impacting Rice Lake. He managed the work for maximum efficiency.