The Environmental Protection Group (EPG)’s Post

Project Highlight: Critical Stormwater Line Rehabilitation with Minimal Community Impact Hinterland Group successfully rehabilitated five 72-inch stormwater conveyance lines in a residential area bordering a canal. While traditional open-cut methods would have blocked the only access road for residents for several weeks, our trenchless lining approach allowed us to complete the work with minimal traffic disruption to the community. This project demonstrates Hinterland Group's commitment to using innovative solutions that maintain essential infrastructure while prioritizing resident accessibility. #savingoursewers #protectingourwaters

Exciting progress on the L.A. River wetlands project in Glassell Park! Construction has begun on a 3.4-acre wetland demonstration at the Bowtie Parcel, transforming a former rail yard into a green space with enhanced water quality and public access. The project will include stormwater treatment systems, habitat restoration, and native plantings. Set to partially open in 2026, this project is a step toward creating a 100-acre L.A. River park, improving both the environment and community access. #LosAngelesConstruction #ConstructionIndustry #UrbanDevelopment

This is indeed a step forward in addressing climate adaptation.

Doing our part at Aggregate Industries in shoring up the coastal regions

Transforming Petane Car Park Our recently completed Petane project addressed chronic water-logging issues that restricted community access. Working closely with Napier City Council our team implemented comprehensive drainage solutions and infrastructure upgrades including: • Installation of new stormwater systems to eliminate flooding issues • Construction of durable all-weather parking facilities • Development of accessible footpaths for improved pedestrian safety • Integration of sustainable drainage design to protect long-term functionality Previously unusable after rain, the space now serves as a reliable year-round community hub. Seeing daily use by families and local groups validates our practical approach to community improvement. Thanks to our team and the local council for their collaboration on this successful project. #civilconstruction #hawkesbay #landdevelopment

📂 Project: Wonboyn Amenity 📍 Where: Myrtle Cove in Wonboyn, NSW 📅 When: March 2021 ⚙ Challenges: The devastating bushfires that swept through NSW in 2020 destroyed the disabled access toilet amenity. The facility is just metres away from an estuary. 💡 Solution: We worked with council engineers and landscapers to seamlessly link the new structure with the old ramp. The Clivus Multrum CM10 compost unit was fitted with a Zero Discharge Unit to prevent any environmental contamination. Modifications were made to increase the bushfire attack level (BAL) rating. #compostingtoilet #waterlesstoilet #toiletbuilding #toiletblock #FRP #fibrereinforcedpolymer #fireresistant #publictoilet #publicamenity #accessibledesign #landscapearchitecture #sustainabledesign #ecofriendly

DU compensatory mitigation project in New York St. Lawrence watershed, 2nd growing season post construction. We opted for native grassland buffers and were rewarded by nesting mallards, bobolinks and meadowlarks! 😍🦆🚜 Site is 145-acres in a larger 440 acre protected complex. We're starting to dewater these units to promote vegetation push (sedges and forbs), we'll then raise the water come fall, and may manage a bit lower afterwards. Research shows fluctuating water levels promotes plant diversity and can help with duck forage potential. This approach allows us to balance a range of goals and meet mitigation performance standards. High quality credits like these are available for 404, NEPA, and in several cases NY-ORES offsets throughout DU's NY ILF program. #wetlands #mitigation #grasslands

The Board of Commissioners at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) saluted a first-of-its-kind council for their advocacy connecting the MWRD to the surrounding community it serves at its water reclamation plants (WRP). Over the past two years the MWRD’s Calumet Community Partnership Council (CPC) engaged in meaningful discussions surrounding several critical policy concerns, such as improving water quality and enhancing flood management. The success of this initial CPC has led the MWRD to form a similar CPC for its Stickney WRP, set to launch this month. The CPC was an initiative sparked by the MWRD’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025. The goal was to position the MWRD as a critical community asset and to ensure that the MWRD is a responsible neighbor and inclusive business partner. To address pressing issues collaboratively, the CPC emphasized the importance of fostering partnerships among local stakeholders, including government agencies, community organizations, and residents. Among the proposed actions the Council supported were increased green infrastructure opportunities in environmental justice (EJ) neighborhoods, recognizing the unique challenges that underserved communities susceptible to flooding can face. CPC members learned firsthand how implementing solutions like rain gardens and permeable pavements can help absorb stormwater and reduce flooding when one CPC member’s flood reduction application was chosen by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) for a flood mitigation project at a Chicago Public School during an international conference on water hosted by WEF in 2023. The resulting project consisted of a rain garden that has a design retention capacity of 448,000 gallons of stormwater per year. In operation since 1922, the Calumet WRP serves nearly 1 million people living in the far South Side of Chicago and 48 surrounding south suburbs. On the average day, the Calumet WRP treats about 350 million gallons of water, transforming it into clean water to be released back to the environment in the Little Calumet River. Read more and view more photos: https://lnkd.in/dDF9QQBY #MWRD #CookCounty #StormwaterManagement #WastewaterTreatment #Community #Partnership

Yes, another update on the Chiltern Beechwoods SAC. This time I have been reviewing the plans that the National Trust have published in relation to changes / enhancements proposed at Ashridge. Their summary video is posted below. https://lnkd.in/ebj9FKuF Hard to argue with a lot of what is being proposed: new visitor centres to dilute the concentration of visitors around the Bridgewater Monument. A temporary car park to get parking off the verges of Monument Drive. Additional protection for the most special and vulnerable trees. New footpath and bridle paths. It does make me wonder whether these changes alone would be sufficient. They seem more appropriate and highlight the over-the-top nature of the additional requirement for SANG (Sustainable Alternative Natural Greenspace), in particular when it is separate from the new development that it is supposed to be mitigating. It has been interesting to see the negative response from local communities to various SANG sites, including 77 objections from members of the public to a proposed SANG site next to Berkhamsted Cricket Club. It has always felt that the planning moratorium imposed from March 2022 (and still in whole or partial effect throughout the area) was a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Is there any hope that the proposals from the National Trust could lead to a watering down of the disproportionate impacts that come from that moratorium and the SANG mitigation requirements? (To answer my own question, almost certainly no, but it would be nice!)

Of course we need affordable housing, but filling and building in a wetland and/or floodplain is never the right solution. To say that affordable housing can only be built in wetlands and floodplains is disingenuous at best and completely intentionally misleading at worst. It will cause increased downstream flooding, increased volumes of pollutants in nearby streams and surface waters, and will inevitably be flooded - putting those who can least afford to deal with repeat flooding at greatest risk. This is also an environmental justice travesty for the Tribal community in Kansas - adding insult to injury in regard to decades of injustice and violence against Tribal children. https://lnkd.in/eq_DUvHj I see no redeeming value to this effort. It pads the pockets of the developers while putting everyone else at greater risk. And the kicker is that its not even truly affordable. The affordable housing crisis can only be solved through a more systemic solution to the vast income gap in this country - not by destroying public goods like wetlands and floodplains.