Final year of first MS4 permit ends June 30

WINCHESTER - The Select Board received an update on its MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit from Journee Schwartz of engineering firm Weston & Sampson. This permit goes back to 2003 and each tern lasts for five years. A permit issued in 2016 went into effect in 2018. As it's a five-year cycle, year 5 ends this month (June 30). A new permit is expected in the fall of 2023 that could focus more on implementation (and Schwartz said the EPA can audit communities to make sure they’re complying).

MS4 permits deal with runoff into the town's sewer system and waterways and requirements the town must meet to control said runoff. During this permit cycle, the town achieved some accomplishments such as:

• updating its stormwater management plan with permit requirements, town's planned compliance initiatives, and progress to date (to be posted to town's website by June 12),

• education and outreach through targeted mailings (especially to landscape companies) and fertilizer use/leaf litter/grass clippings/pet waste management and septic system maintenance/storage and use of salt,

• participation/involvement with Hazardous Waste Collection Day (June 10), Aberjona River clean up (April 22), MWRA poster and essay contest, Mystic River Steering Committee meetings, public review of SWMP, and annual reports,

• illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE) through catchment investigations, training and wet weather outfall screening and sampling,

• construction site runoff control through continued tracking of site plan reviews, inspections and enforcement actions,

• post-construction stormwater management through street design and parking lot report, impervious cover impacts, green infrastructure report, Best Management Practices (BMPs) retrofit, and inventory report, and

• pollution prevention and good housekeeping through catch basin cleaning (less than 50 percent full, and the town has a dedicated cleaner within the DPW), street/parking lot sweeping twice a year, inspection and maintenance of BMPs, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, and quarterly inspections and training (at the DPW and Transfer Station).

Impaired waters

The town developed Phase 2 of the town-wide phosphorous source identification report to combat impairments at the Mystic River, Wedge Pond and the Aberjona River. It identified and prioritized catchments with high phosphorous loadings and identified BMP retrofit opportunities and evaluated and prioritized BMP retrofit opportunities - regulatory and engineering feasibility.

The town also developed a chloride reduction plan to deal with chloride impairment of the Aberjona River.

Going forward

An annual report is due by the town on Sept. 28, which leads into Year 6 of the current permit term. In Year 6, the town will continue sampling the wet weather outfall, continue catchment investigations, implement recommendations from IC and GI reports, implement CB cleaning optimization plan, continue to gather data, continue inspection and maintenance of BMPs, continue IDDE training, begin design of other potential PSIR BMP retrofits, begin implementation of the chloride reduction plan for the chloride-impaired Aberjona River, and conduct a feasibility assessment.

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