Pollution Control Strategy Lawsuit

An interesting article appeared in the News Journal this week describing the latest developments relating to the on-going Sussex County lawsuit against DNREC for their promulgation of the Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategies, most notably regarding buffers. While there is still considerable debate on the efficacy of buffers, the article did state that attempts to settle the dispute are ongoing. The implications being that some form of buffer regulation will likely prevail. As the “last word” regarding this subject has yet to be written, it is unclear how the final form of these regulations will affect proposed projects or agricultural land containing wetlands, streams, water bodies, forested areas, on-site treatment and disposal or tax-ditches for lands draining to the Inland Bays.



A link to all DNREC documentation is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/ib_pcs.htm



A link to DNREC Summary is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/FactSheet_IBPCS_101408.pdf



Additional regulations relating to water quality and limitations for discharge are currently being proposed at the Federal level that will ultimately be the responsibility for DNREC to regulate and enforce. We believe that the abundance of newly proposed and developing regulations coupled with the internal reorganization of DNREC recently announced will result in a significant departure from today’s status-quo. Landmark/JCM will continue to monitor these issues and how they may affect future development. Please contact us with any questions or to meet with us for your next successful project.

by Keith Rudy, Water Resources Branch Manager

CIB Decked Out a Fun Success

We attended the Decked Out fundraiser party last night at the Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) office overlooking the Indian River Inlet at Rehoboth. A great night. Enjoying drinks and desserts with steel drum music they held a silent auction with lots of great stuff. Attended by Dave and Nancy, Howard and friend Tim (who works in Sussex in Fish & Wildlife). Saw lots of familiar faces including CIB staffers Ed Lewandowski, Jenn Jones and Chris Bason and his wife Chantel Bouchard. Also saw some DNREC folks too. See our earlier blogs about CIB and the events which are supported by this fundraiser. JCM and our partners VLM Property Management are very happy to have been able to help sponsor this event.

The night ended with departure gifts, homemade lollipops by Jenn Jones. Classy and creative!

Wild Delmarva Exhibit

Photo by Kevin Fleming


From Cape Gazette: http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/200907/flemings24.html





“Wild Delmarva,” a photograph exhibit featuring the work of Kevin and Jay Fleming, will open at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 30, at the Center for the Inland Bays at the third annual Decked Out! fundraiser for the center.



“After spending over six months shooting for our new book, Wild Delmarva, Jay and I will be displaying our new work for the first time at the Center for the Inland Bays,” said Kevin Fleming.



The event, featuring dessert tastings, drinks and the Sounds of Steel will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on the deck at the center overlooking Indian River Inlet. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at inlandbays.org or by calling 302-226-8105



Event sponsors are Perdue; Allied Waste – A Republic Services Company; Artesian Water Company; Conectiv Energy; Clean Green Horizons; Greeley and Hansen; JCM Environmental & VLM Lake Management; South Bethany Property Owners Association; AC Schultes of Delaware; Duffield Associates; Mountaire Farms; Tidewater Utilities; Barbara and Gary Jayne; Concierge by the Sea; Comcast Spotlight; and Clean Delaware. Proceeds from the event will benefit the center’s endowment fund at the Delaware Community Foundation.



For more information on the Delaware Inland Bays, visit inlandbays.org

JCM Environmental sponsors CIB Event

JCM Environmental is one of the sponsors (along with our partner VLM) of the Center for Inland Bays "Decked Out" event next Thursday evening. You can visit Dave and Howard there and have a good time. Tickets are still available. For more information see: http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/200907/cibfundraiser17.html

Native Plant Sale

This past Saturday we had a successful day participating at the Center for Inland Bays Native Plant Sale at their James Farm in Ocean View.

Amy, Jim, Jacki and Howard worked the booth and sold out all 240 of our native plants. While the weather was slightly overcast, it was pleasant and everyone that attended seemed to have a good time, at our booth and also the various attractions hosted during the day by the Center for Inland Bays.

Not only did we sell out of the native plants, but our rain barrel giveaway drew over 150 entries. We also had a number of interested folks on the rain garden poster and handouts.

The rain song white board (think of a song title containing the word "rain") was a hit as people even came back with song ideas (although a few sounded made up).

Many thanks to the Center for Inland Bays and especially Sally Boswell for organizing a great event and for having us as their guests.

Center for Inland Bays - Nutrient Conference

A few JCM Environmental employees attended the Center for Inland Bays conference entitled Frontiers in Nutrient Management at the Atlantic Sands hotel in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Wednesday.

We presented a poster detailing the nutrient management innovations employed at two Inland Bay watershed residential development sites that we have worked on.

Here is the abstract:

Innovative Approaches to Nutrient Management in Residential Development, by James C. McCulley IV, P.W.S, President JCM Environmental Consultants, Inc., jim@jcmenv.com.

Residential development in the Inland Bays watershed provides opportunities for innovative nutrient management approaches. Two residential projects in the watershed were chosen to illustrate the opportunities for innovative nutrient management. A one thousand acre intensive agricultural site (Site1) adjacent to the inland bays and a one hundred acre forested site (Site 2) upstream of a tidal reach to the inland bays. Site 1 was intensively studied to determine agricultural nutrient loadings, after which residential nutrient reduction measures were implemented and monitoring was performed to determine success. The reduction measures included: property management approaches and tiered storm water practices. Site 2 built upon the successes of Site 1 and is currently in the design phase and is proposing similar as well as additional approaches, including: integrated pest management, lawn grass reduction, green development practices under the newly implemented Sussex County Green Development Policy and other innovative storm water management approaches. The data shows that the approaches implemented at Site 1 have been successful and we are confident that the additional approaches implemented at Site 2 will have an additive effect on nutrient reduction in the inland bays.

For more information contact Joe Gordon at joe@jcmenv.com or www.jcmenv.com