Page 16 - Port of Baltimore - September/October 2018

[14] The Port of Baltimore ■ September/October 2018
GreenPort
Environmental Stewardship at the Port of Baltimore BY MARY MAUSHARD
Innovative Sand Filter Increases Runoff Management
The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) is always looking for innovative ways to manage storm water. Due to the full development, age and activity of the terminals, MDOT MPA is limited in how to treat storm-water runoff and meet current water-quality standards.
That’s why an above-ground sand filter that was recently installed at the Dundalk Marine Terminal is being hailed as a novel approach to storm water management and a good use of grant funds.
This sand filter is a vertical apparatus that takes in water and allows it to flow slowly through layers of sand, which filters the water, cleaning it before it goes into the Chesapeake Bay. Different grades of sand layered in the filter help remove pollutants from the water.
The sand filter project began with a grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and an idea from Michael Furbish, President of Furbish Co., a leading green-roof developer and MDOT MPA partner in environmental projects.
The original grant was to install two green roofs of a half-acre each. When one roof was completed, Furbish proposed to Bill Richardson, Environmental Manager for MDOT MPA, that if they could find a way to install a sand filter in a parking lot and tie it to the existing storm drain system, the Port could treat much more rain water than with a roof.
With DNR approval to redirect grant funds, they began work on the project.