BALTIMORE, MD (July 13, 2011) –  The 2011 Smart, Green, and Growing Sustainable Infrastucture/Innovation in Stormwater Management Awards go to the City of Rockville’s College Gardens project and the Town of Edmonston’s Green Streets project. The awards were announced today at the Maryland Department of the Environment’s first Clean Water Innovations Trade Show in Baltimore.

Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Robert M. Summers announced the winners after delivering keynote remarks at the Clean Water Innovations Trade Show, featuring stormwater and water quality solutions.

Secretary Summers told the audience that the Trade Show was inspired by Governor Martin O’Malley’s suggestion during a "Maryland Forward" forum on Sustainability earlier this year that it would be good to bring Maryland companies working on solutions to polluted stormwater runoff together with developers and local governments. Secretary Summers noted that the Trade Show featured examples of the new green economy, including floating island wetlands that are being deployed in some of Maryland’s most impaired waters and stormwater treatment technologies that bring cost-effective retrofit solutions to our urban communities.

"We’ve got to have clean water. It really is the foundation of our economic health," Secretary Summers said. "The Chesapeake Bay is the geographic and economic center of our State. Our public health and economic health depends on clean water – it’s absolutely critical to our future."

The Trade Show featured 36 exhibitors. More than 320 people registered to attend.

Rain for Rent, a company whose services include providing pumping tanks and filtration equipment to construction and environmental consultants to help manage stormwater, was one of the vendors at the Trade Show.

"It’s bringing like-minded companies together to network and provide a comprehensive solution for stormwater management and sediment erosion control for the future," Rain for Rent sales representative John Pierce said during the event. "I do see a lot of people I can partner up with."

Ron Bowen, director of Anne Arundel County’s Department of Public Works, was among the government officials attending. He said: "I think it’s all about networking and generating much-needed, broader knowledge and information between all the stakeholders who rely on that for implementation."

The awards announced today are part of Smart, Green & Growing, an initiative introduced by Governor O’Malley in 2008 to foster a smarter, greener, more sustainable future for Maryland families.

Rockville renovated a six-acre park, created a functional stormwater management facility with aesthetic features, and restored sections of stream. Because of the project, stormwater is treated from 79 acres that were previously untreated.

In accepting the award, City of Rockville Director of Public Works Craig Simoneau described the challenge of managing stormwater runoff in a largely urban area – and persuading residents that renovations to their area park were the way to meet the challenge. He described how the stormwater management pond was incorporated into the park, and dressed up with such touches as a bridge.

"It is now the centerpiece of the neighborhood," he said. "It has totally transformed that neighborhood."

Edmonston’s Green Streets project, which addressed flooding and stormwater runoff problems, includes a bioretention area and pervious surfaces. It also included street trees, LED lighting, and bike paths.

Officials from the Town of Edmonston, who were unable to attend the event, will receive their award at a later date.

Both award-winning projects received U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants through the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Exhibitors at the Trade Show were:

• Stormwater Maintenance, LLC
• Imbrium Systems Corp.
• Advanced Land and Water, Inc.
• Filterra Bioretention Systems
• Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.
• Highview Creations
• Pace Analytical Services
• Geiger Pump & Equipment/ Fresh Creek Technologies
• Amicus Green Building Center
• Bryant Associates
• Microbac Laboratories, Inc.
• Rotondo Environmental Solutions, LLC
• Buchart Horn, Inc.
• Kershner Environmental Technologies, LLC
• Bluewing Environmental Solutions & Technologies
• Best Management Products, Inc.
• Apex Companies, LLC
• J. Mitsak & Associates, P.C.
• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB)
• Chesapeake Area Consortium for Higher Education Institute for Environmental Careers - Anne Arundel Community College
• Concrete Products Group
• Ashtead Technology
• Stancills, Inc.
• Furbish Company (displaying SmartSlope)
• J. W. Faircloth & Son, Inc.
• Kline’s Services, Inc.
• Aquabarrel Rain Barrel
• Teraganix
• Chaney Enterprises
• Chesapeake Bay Trust
• Clearwater Mills
• Charles P. Johnson & Associates, Inc.
• Rain for Rent
• BaySaver Technologies, Inc.
• CONTECH Construction Products, Inc.
• Maryland - Asia Environmental Partnership
• Ernest Maier