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Logging and the general timber industry is believed to be the fifth largest manufacturing industry in Maryland. To reduce the impact of sediment runoff on the State’s water resources, earth-disturbing activities are required to apply erosion and sediment control practices to trap and hold sediment-laden water on site. MDE has collected the most practical, efficient and cost effective sediment control measures from various industries and combined them into one comprehensive standards and specifications document.
De-Mystifying Sediment Control Procedures
This document, updated for the first time in almost 30 years, is important enough that it will be included in state regulations (COMAR). The 2005 Maryland Erosion And Sediment Control Standards And Specification For Forest Harvest Operations is currently on the MDE web site and open for public comment. “We want to know: will the practices outlined in this manual, when properly applied, adequately protect Maryland waters while allowing the economically important timber harvests to proceed?” inquired Ken Pensyl, Program Manager for Sediment, Stormwater and Dam Safety.
After the long process of combining the original guidelines with the Maryland Forest Service’s best management practices and organizational changes, the new forest harvest document is relatively complete. Upon receiving, reviewing and evaluating stakeholder comments, the document will be revised, and then a formal process begins to make it a part of the regulations. MDE believes that it is important to seek comment from a variety of sources and perspectives prior to the public hearing process. In addition to placing the manual in the regulations, they will be revised to allow Maryland Licensed Foresters to certify that erosion and sediment control plans are in accordance with approved, regulations standards and ordinances.
The Importance of Sediment Control
Falling raindrops striking disturbed soil, detach and transport soil particles that eventually end up in the State’s waterways where they cloud the water column, block sunlight penetration, alter the local environment and introduce “piggy-backed” nutrients. Water quality degradation can cause die off of sunlight-starved submerged aquatic vegetation. Introducing sediment and nutrients to the water buries bottom dwelling organisms, deposits sediment over aquatic organism habitats, and creates oxygen-stealing algae blooms.
The forest harvest industry disturbs the earth as trees are cut and transported. The ways in which timber harvests disturb soil are different from typical urban construction. The forest harvest industry therefore, has its own special set of erosion and sediment control measures. This standards and specifications manual intends to de-mystify environment-saving procedures for the timber industry.
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