ANS comments in favor of better stormwater management for a Deep Green Purple Line

purple-linejpa-logoBy ANS Conservation Director Eliza Cava

Last week, ANS submitted a comment letter to the US Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and Maryland Department of the Environment on their combined environmental permits for the proposed Purple Line. If constructed, the Purple Line would come close to ANS’ headquarters at Woodend, and would result in the loss of 43 acres of forest as well as impacts at five major and a number of minor stream crossings and wetlands. ANS asked the agencies to follow Montgomery and Prince George’s county standards for stormwater management on new development, as these are more stringent than state standards and provide better protection for our streams and creeks. We also asked that the agencies mitigate forest loss as close as possible to the impact site, and within the same sub-watershed, so that Rock Creek, Sligo Creek, Long Branch, Northwest Branch, and Northeast Branch each are made whole for any forest loss that occurs within their watersheds. We have made these same comments in the past and supported coalition partners’ comments on the same issue, all in an effort to ensure that if the Purple Line is built it will be “Deep Green” and contribute to healing, not hurting, our streams and creeks.

Read our comments here: ans-comments-on-purple-line-usace-mde-dnr-permits-11-2-16

Learn more about the Purple Line at http://www.purplelinemd.com and about the current environmental permits at http://www.purplelinejpa.com/.

About Eliza Cava

Eliza Cava is the Nature Forward Director of Conservation, where she supervises our policy, advocacy, watershed community science, and conservation outreach work, and supports Woodend restoration as a demonstration landscape for the region.
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