Meat, poultry, seafood and prepared foods processors are increasingly faced with the growing challenge of protecting water resources, regardless of rural or urban locations. While water conservation and wastewater pretreatment have been the primary drivers, managing stormwater is more and more a key component of any water resource management strategy. Processors can take charge of stormwater similar to any other regulatory requirement; however, understanding how the broader aspects of municipal, construction and industrial stormwater management are evolving is valuable prior to revisiting or drafting stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWP3).
Great insight is gained from the 2008 National Research Council (NRC) study titled, “Urban Stormwater Management in the United States,” completed at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The book (available online or for purchase as a hard copy) tackles municipal, industrial and construction discharges, and relays what processors already know stormwater volumes and quality are degrading urban stream systems. The authors also note that the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program used to regulate point source, direct discharges into waters of the United States (Clean Water Act regulatory framework) is ill-suited for addressing the more complex stormwater discharge.