Bringing you the latest news, events, and updates from NEIWPCC and our partners.

In This Issue

Webinar: Working Together to Track the Chesapeake Bay TMDL | Call for Abstracts Opens for National SRF Workshop | Knocking on Lake Champlain's Door: The Round Goby | Chloride Resources Clearinghouse Aims to Reduce Salt Concentrations in the Environment | Northeast Aquatic Biologists Conference Cultivates Collaboration Among Environmental Community | Registration Opens for JETCC North Country Convention | News from the Clean Water Pod | In Brief | Accolades | Employment Opportunities | Events

Working Together to Track the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load

The next webinar in the National 303(d) Restoring Our Impaired Waters Webinar Series will focus on communication and partnership in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the largest estuary in the United States that includes six states and the District of Columbia. The event is scheduled for March 14, 2-3:30 p.m.

Call for Abstracts: National State Revolving Fund Workshop

NEIWPCC is now inviting abstracts for the National State Revolving Fund (SRF) Workshop, to be held July 11-13 in Raleigh, North Carolina. NEIWPCC is coordinating the workshop in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and partner organizations. Abstract submissions are due on Monday, April 3.

Knocking on Lake Champlain's Door: The Round Goby

First found in the St. Clair River in Michigan in 1990, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) took five years to colonize all five Great Lakes. With the highly invasive fish making its way towards the Lake Champlain basin, a multi-agency effort is coordinating to stop the spread of this aggressive - and ecologically disruptive - fish.

Chloride Resources Clearinghouse Aims to Reduce Salt Concentrations in the Environment

In the Northeast, winter weather has become associated with one particular pollutant: salt. When snow and ice hit the ground, de-icing salts (comprised of chlorides) are scattered liberally across roads, sidewalks and driveways to melt ice. Salt provides a valuable service in the wintertime by improving the safety of roads and walkways, but overapplication can lead to harmful impacts on water quality.

Northeast Aquatic Biologists Conference Cultivates Collaboration Among Environmental Community

The 2023 Northeast Aquatic Biologists (NAB) Conference convened for its annual regional event in Plymouth, Massachusetts in February. Participation surpassed pre-pandemic numbers, with 152 attendees from all seven of NEIWPCC member states' environmental departments, the U.S. EPA, and United States Geological Survey (USGS), academic institutions, and the private sector.

Early Bird Registration Closes March 17 For JETCC North Country Convention

The 2023 Maine Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee (JETCC) North Country Convention will take place in Presque Isle, Maine on April 5-6, returning after a hiatus during the pandemic. The event will offer two days of training for water and wastewater operators, vendor exhibits on the tradeshow floor, and opportunities to network with fellow water professionals.

Episode 5: Calculating Pollution Tipping Points: Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

In the fifth episode of the "Clean Water Pod," podcast host Jeff Berckes digs into his favorite four-letter word: TMDL, or Total Maximum Daily Load. Part equation and part plan, a TMDL defines the maximum amount of a specific pollutant allowed in a waterbody for it to meet designated water quality standards.

More News

In Brief

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking public comments on the draft watershed implementation plan for the Lake Champlain Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Public comments will be received until March 17.

The EPA announced over $2.4 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for states, Tribes, and territories through this year’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). The funding will support communities in upgrading essential water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure that protects public health and water bodies across the nation.

Long Island Sound water quality, salt marsh and public beach characteristics are the focus of nine new research projects awarded funding by the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs and the EPA’s Long Island Sound Study Research Grant Program.

$550 million from the Inflation Reduction Act will advance EPA’s new Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking program. The funding will support up to 11 entities to serve as grant makers to community-based projects that reduce pollution.

A series of virtual listening sessions on EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap will continue through late April, providing opportunities for communities to share feedback directly with EPA regional and program leaders to inform the implementation of the actions described in the Roadmap.

A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters finds toilet paper adds PFAS to wastewater.

The Portland Press Herald reports no immediate solution on Maine’s sludge problem as landfills limit or stop accepting sewage sludge.

The EPA announced the availability of $2 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to states and territories to address emerging contaminants like PFAS in drinking water across the country. The funding will be made available to communities as grants through EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program and will promote access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged communities while supporting local economies.

Tom Danielson of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection poses with four student award winners during the 2023 Northeast Aquatic Biologists (NAB) Conference, all from the University of Massachusetts Amherst: Alexa Hershberger, Stefanie Farrington, Katherine Abbott, and Callista MacPherson. Abbott and Farrington were awarded best oral student presentation, and MacPherson and Hershberger received the best student poster presentation award.

Accolades

Jordan Bishop, environmental analyst, presented at the Northeast Aquatic Biologists Conference. Maryann Dugan, environmental analyst, and Richard Friesner, director of Water Quality Programs, moderated a session, and NEIWPCC Commissioner Paul Hogan gave opening remarks.