Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Mud Busters
- Disrupts the insect larvae and other tiny animals living in streams' rocks and gravel.
- Blocks the sunlight that underwater grasses need to survive.
- Transports harmful pollutants, including nitrogen and phosphorous pollution, metals, and carcinogens such as PCB's.
You can help their local stream by monitoring construction sites and taking pictures of any runoff coming from the site. Then report the incident either to the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) complaint form or contact the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Mud Busters. If you contact DPS about a potential violation, also contact Mud Busters since they are compiling this information for a report on the effectiveness of County enforcement of Erosion & Sediment Controls to government official. If you are not sure there is a violation, take photos and submit your photos to Mud Busters for evaluation. For more information on Mud Busters. The Mud Buster web site has useful information on Monitoring Tips, How to Spot Failures, How to Report Problems.
A recent example shows the effectiveness Mud Buster volunteers can have by monitoring runoff from construction sites. While surveying Sligo Creek during a rain storm in April 2007, Diane Cameron witnessed muddy water flowing from a nearby school construction site into the headwaters of Sligo Creek. After photographing the runoff from the school construction site, Diane contacted both DPS and the Mud Busters. A DPS sediment control inspector soon after inspected the site. The contractor was cited for being in noncompliance with the approved Erosion & Sediment plans and permit. The DPS inspector found that they did not have proper sediment controls installed, failed to maintain the sediment controls and allowed sediment on a public street. DPS noted that the contractor corrected the deficiencies and would return to ensure continued compliance.
