A new stormwater awareness campaign was launched by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Statewide Stormwater Coalition to assist Massachusetts cities and towns in meeting new federal stormwater management requirements. The event took place at the Joseph H. Gibbons Elementary School in Stoughton.
“Stormwater runoff threatens the health of all water resources across Massachusetts,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton stated. “This unique public education campaign provides important information to residents, businesses and developers about what they can do to reduce these contaminants in our environment and keep our rivers and streams safe from pollution.”
Designed to raise awareness among residents and businesses about how stormwater pollution affects waterways and wetlands, the public awareness campaign “Think Blue Massachusetts,” also encourages communities to take action against stormwater runoff pollution. With funding from MassDEP, the Statewide Stormwater Coalition developed this campaign to help 260 Massachusetts communities comply with new federal stormwater management requirements. Under the new Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, cities and towns must carry out various stormwater pollution prevention measures, such as public education programs and targeted outreach initiatives.
“The new campaign is a toolkit to help cities and towns meet the public education and outreach requirements of MS4,” MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg remarked. “The material is available online and can be easily downloaded and customized to reflect a community’s individual needs. It provides one-stop shopping for our local officials who are working hard to meet these requirements.”
When rain or snowmelt flows across roadways and parking lots, it becomes stormwater runoff that collects contaminants before reaching local rivers, streams and groundwater. These contaminants—including fertilizer, trash, oils, gasoline, solvents, pollen and pet waste—travel through catch basins into stormwater systems and are eventually released into the environment. By implementing the MS4 permit requirements, the amount of stormwater runoff discharged into waterbodies will decrease significantly.
MassDEP oversees clean air and water protection, proper management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, remediation of hazardous waste sites and spills, and the protection of wetlands and coastal resources.