Wednesday’s agreement between the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to approve PWD’s Green City, Clean Waters plan drew widespread media attention. Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s articles:
“The 25-year plan, which has been hailed as a national model, envisions green roofs on office buildings, porous pavement on city streets and parking lots, and plants and trees with tubs of gravel below ground to hold water and stall runoff in a storm. All would be designed to let rainwater seep back into the ground rather than gush into an aged sewer system where it mixes with raw sewage and overflows into streams and basements.”
“‘Philadelphia’s visionary approach … is great for the environment, and for the economy,’ said Brian Glass of PennFuture, an environmental group. ‘It will save Philadelphians real money, while making the city of brotherly love a more vibrant place to live, work and play.'”
“Green City, Clean Waters, which will work with Mayor Nutter’s GreenWorks program, is considered to be the most comprehensive plan in the nation. All cities with combined sewer overflows are required by the federal Clean Water Act to create long term control plans.”
National Resources Defense Council Staff Blog:
“When Philadelphia first proposed its Green City, Clean Waters program in 2009, NRDC commissioned a review by independent experts, which found that the city’s plan was based on solid—even conservative—projections of how much sewage pollution it could prevent through widespread use of green infrastructure.”
“During the review process, it was realized that water quality goals could be met more cost effectively by integrating green and grey infrastructure solutions. Additionally, implementing green infrastructure solutions could have multiple benefits, including mitigation of the heat island effect, improved air quality, increased groundwater recharge, and job creation.”
