Carroll Township talks MS4 plans

By Eric Seiverling

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Carroll Township supervisors addressed a newly implemented Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System — also known as an MS4 program — on Wednesday to inform the public about the plan and its requirements.

The state-wide program was developed by the DEP in 1990 to reduce pollution and erosion to streams and rivers due to stormwater runoff.

A recent annual DEP audit in Carroll Township found pollutants, such as road runoff, going into Pigeon Creek and the Monongahela River.

Under the program’s guidelines, the township is required to reduce pollutants over a five-year period at a rate of 10% for sediments and 5% for nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.

Methods of reducing pollution and erosion include animal waste drop boxes in local parks, the installation of rain barrels on gutters and downspouts, the development of greenspace and not washing vehicles in a driveway.

“There’s several items out there that we’re going through getting resolved with the DEP,” Supervisor Ken Hillman said of the audit. “This being part of it so we’ll have more discussion on that. It’s just a program that’s been around for quite a while. We’re just working through some of the comments they had on it.”

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