Sustainable Land Development Today - April 2008 - (Page 37) structed, so flocculants were added to help bind and settle out the fine clay particles that were held in suspension. At the request of the county, the city also installed rock checks on park property further down stream and before the lake to further protect the body of water. By the summer, the site was better controlled. The remaining sediment basins were installed on all the main drainages and Faircloth Skimmers were employed to skim off and discharge cleaner water from them during rainfall events. The Experience Though there were those who proposed punitive action against the contractor for the sediment pollution that got into the stream and lake, no fines were levied. Lenexa officials took a different route, which is a key lesson out of this event. “Anytime you have something that goes wrong, its human nature to point fingers and play the blame game,” Beilfuss said. They took a team approach to deal with the problem. Instead of playing the role of “regulator,” the city brought all stakeholders together from the beginning to see the problem first hand. They worked together to find solutions. “We were much better off creating a ‘team’ atmosphere,” Beilfuss continued. “When you start threatening fines, you make the contractor defensive and they are not quite as willing to get something done.” Communication was another key. As the problems were identified and solutions applied, everyone was kept updated. When it was learned that a hold up in getting county approval to remove the old sanitary sewer line was delaying the construction of the main sediment basins, the city contacted the county and asked to expedite the process. Once that was obtained, the work accelerated. Beilfuss also said having an Erosion and Sediment Control Inspector on staff provided an early warning system for all involved. Had the sediment problem continued, it could have lead to public complaints and hefty fines from state and federal officials. “When we discovered the problem, our city administrator caught me in the hall and said he was glad we saw it first,” he said. “Having a full time inspector really made a difference in this case, because we were able to be proactive.” Vigilance is also important. After all involved felt that the site had been properly adapted to deal with stormwater erosions and sediment control, they ran into a problem. A machine operator who was removing sediment from one of the basins dumped it into an adjacent stream way. That brought on a directive from the city for the contractor to use a vacuum truck to clean the impacted stream. “That was one of our lessons learned. Don’t get complacent with these sites,” Beilfuss said. “All it takes is one operator’s mistake to mess things up.” SLDT About the author: Steve Gaze is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Sustainable Land Development Today. It’s NOT how DENSE you make it, it’s HOW you make it NEW DENSE. Single Family Detached 11 DU/Acre! Innovative Land Planning 21759 Cabrini Boulevard Golden, CO 80401 P: 303.526.9126 - davidclinger@dclinger.com - www.dclinger.com Circle 116 • or www.SLDTonline.com/webcard www.SLDTonline.com 37 http://www.dclinger.com http://www.dclinger.com http://www.SLDTonline.com/webcard http://www.SLDTonline.com
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