Tookany Creek Watershed Trash Pollution Update Photographic Trash Surveys Jan- Mar, 2013 Tookany Creek Surveys 1. Cedarbrook Plaza and Upper Rock Creek 2. Cheltenham Mall and Upper Rock Creek 3. Cedarbrook Plaza 4. Mill Run Creek 5. Tookany Creek High School Park Area 6. Burholme Park and Burholme Creek 7. Lower Tookany Creek 8. Outfall (Lower Took Creek Prkwy) 9. Outfall T-080-03 10. Outfall T-080-02 11. Rock Creek 1 11 Findings to Date 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 6 Litter is Watershed wide problem Commercial area litter significant Creek trash throughout Watershed Outfalls are a significant source of Creek trash 2004 Outfall survey needs updating Traces of sewage observed below several stormwater outfalls Plastic bags major creek trash problem Plastic bags could be passing inlet traps this needs further investigation Illegal dumping at Burholme Park Photo Surveys important 1 st step ArcGIS and GPS important tools in Trash Surveys 1
Tookany Creek Watershed Trash Pollution Update What do we know so far? (3/20/13) Tookany Creek Hydrology PWD CSO and MS4 outfalls contribute flows to Tookany Creek When addressing upstream trash loads from Tookany Creek, need to Include PWD outfalls Linking Potential Sources and Creek Trash Rock Creek Area Lower Tookany Creek # 7 - Trash below Cheltenham outfall #9 Trash below PWD MS4 (T-088-02) #10 Trash below PWD MS4 (T-088-03) 1 2 11 3 PWD CSO T-01 Mill Run Area PWD MS4 T-088-01 4 5 7 8 9 Burholme Park Area Lower Tookany Creek Area 10 6 PWD MS4s T-080-02 & 03 Mill Run Creek Area Long history of PWD Cheltenham working together on this problem Trash load in Mill Run extensive PWD & Cheltenham outfalls potential sources of Mill Run pollution Will try time lapse photography to better define sources Rock Creek Area Rock Creek trash extensive PWD, Cheltenham and 3 large shopping centers potential sources Need coordinated investigation by PWD, Cheltenham and shopping centers to resolve Burholme Park Area Extensive illegal dumping by Cancer Center 2
Need to Assess MS4 and CSO Outfalls 2004 Outfall Inventory shows approximately 300 outfalls in TTF Watershed Located 3 problem outfalls that indicate outfall discharges could be significant source of creek trash 2 PWD MS4 outfalls discharging trash to Lower Tookany Creek 1 Cheltenham MS4 outfall discharging trash to Tookany Creek Outfall inventory needs to be updated: Some outfalls have been installed since 2004 inventory (see Burholm Photo Trash Survey for example) Owner of outfall needs to be specified Owner s unique identification code needs to be added Physical conditions of outfall need to be updated. Number of Rock Creek outfalls seriously damaged Assessment of downstream trash conditions need to be determined so that potential problem outfalls can be identified Potential partnership with Awbury Arboretum and Temple University GIS program to conduct survey, develop historical GIS database Creek trash below PWD MS4 outfall T-088-03 Creek trash below Cheltenham Outfall Tookany Creek Parkway PWD and Cheltenham advised of problem outfalls, awaiting their response s. 3
Concerns about Floatables from PWD Outfalls Plastic bags, food wrappers and plastic bottles found in Tookany and Tacony Creeks PWD relies on trapped inlets and active inlet cleaning to prevent floatables from reaching Creek Some indication that floatables, particularly plastic bags, are showing up below PWD outfalls, indicating potential floatables leakage Limited photographic evidence of plastic bags below PWD outfalls MS4 outfalls:t-08802 and T-088-03 Tabor Road CSO Potential Evidence Mill Run CSO downstream creek trash extensive. PWD and Cheltenham both have outfalls Rock Creek CSO downstream creek trash extensive. PWD, Cheltenham and 3 large shopping centers could be sources Creek Trash Pattern Extent of debris downstream of source, seems to dissipate with distance Mill Run seems to have 2 trash sources, Cheltenham Ave and Asbury Ave. PWD MS4 outfall T-080-01 could be causing upper Mill Run creek trash, Cheltenham MS4 outfall could be causing Lenape Ave creek trash Tacony Creek trash pattern Creek trash coming from Tookany Creek visible upstream of Adams Ave Creek trash gets worse as one travels downstream from Adams Ave Creek trash near Roosevelt Blvd considerably worse than at Adams Ave, indicating City contributions PWD s T-08 CSO and Roosevelt Blvd outfalls could be contributing trash Inlet trapping very helpful for floatables control, however, potential concern with plastic bags escaping traps Anacostia River studies found that..70 percent of the trash that is observed in the streams is neutrally buoyant objects such as plastic bags and snack wrappers which will float under quiescent conditions while clean, but are more likely to be entrained by velocity currents. ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY, James R. & Cynthia A. Collier 4
Plastic bags in Creek Trash are complicated Anacostia Watershed Organization found plastic bags Represent only 3.3% of creek trash when measured by Straining creek flow, 50+% when relying on visual surveys. Excerpt from AWO Report: Exceutive Summary, page vii The Plastic Bags category was the eighth most abundant pollutant found in the trap and comprised 3.3% of the total number of trash pieces. In a report titled ANACOSTIA WATERSHED TRASH REDUCTION PLAN (the Plan) published in 2008 by the Anacostia Watershed Society for the District Department of the Environment, it reported that about 50% of trash in free-flowing streams was plastic bags. This discrepancy can be explained as follows: In the Plan, a surveyor walked along a stream counting visible trash pieces in the stream channel. As a result, the survey demonstrates trash characteristics for the most unsightly trash in streams, or the trash pieces most visible to the naked eye. Since plastic bags are easily snagged by twigs, branches, and roots, they tend to be more concentrated in streams than other trash items. Because the Nash Run Trash Trap strains the stream flow in order to capture trash, it collects pieces that otherwise would not be caught by overhanging branches, roots, or twigs. This accounts or the seemingly lower ratio of plastic bags. 5
My Next Steps 1. Continuation of Trash Photo Surveys hoping to recruit some assistance 2. Assessment of PWD Outfall Floatables Discharge Proposed time lapse photography to PWD as potential technique to monitor PWD outfall trash discharges High resolution (8 mp) photos every minute IR for nighttime photo Rugged, water proof field units, battery operated for extended periods Record photos to 32 gb disk for transfer to office computer for evaluation Relatively inexpensive ($180 per camera) Suitable for proof of concept testing Concerns Can photos pick up outfall discharge in sufficient detail to definitively establish presence/ absence of trash in discharge? Camera theft 3. Outreach to environmental groups to recruit creek investigators to expedite Trash Photos Surveys and documentation 6