The Town of Chesterton’s MS4 program is one of only six in the state recently honored by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for excellence.

At the annual MS4 meeting on April 22 in Anderson, Chesterton’s MS4 program was recognized for going “above and beyond” its initial stormwater quality management plan.

MS4—or the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System program—is a nationwide initiative mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and administered in Indiana by IDEM. The goal of MS4 is to improve a community’s stormwater quality, chiefly by monitoring runoff into its receiving waters, eliminating illicit discharges from illegal drains, regulating sediment from construction sites, and encouraging residents through public outreach and education efforts to be more knowledgeable about household sources of pollution like fertilizer.

IDEM spokesperson Amber Finkelstein told the Chesterton Tribune on Wednesday that, in an audit of the town’s MS4 program conducted in July 2009, IDEM was particularly impressed by a non-point pollution source education unit created at Chesterton Middle School and by a “really impressive citizen-friendly website” on MS4 issues developed by the town’s Stormwater Utility.

“When we do audits, we look at a community’s stormwater plan, what it’s designed to do and how well implemented it is,” Finkelstein said. “If they’ve done extra, gone above and beyond what the plan entailed, we recognize them.”

At Monday’s meeting of the Town Council, Stormwater Utility Superintendent Mark O’Dell gave credit for the honor to MS4 Operator Jennifer Gadzala, who has developed a wide variety of public education programs aimed at increasing awareness and reducing pollution.

Visit Gadzala’s MS4 webpage by linking to it at www.chestertonin.org

　Posted 4/29/2010