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Marine Terminal Stormwater Management

Why the Marine Terminal Has a Permit to Manage Stormwater

The discharge of rain water and snow melt into surface water (lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters and salt waters) requires a permit under both federal and state water quality laws.  The purpose of the permit is to protect surface water and ground water quality.  Federal law requires many industries that discharge stormwater from their industrial areas into a surface water to be covered by an Industrial Stormwater General Permit.  This applies to the Port of Olympia’s Marine Terminal.

In Washington State, the Department of Ecology administers the Industrial Stormwater General Permit process.  It is called a “General Permit” because many entities that are discharging can be covered under the one permit.  Currently, the General Permit covers more than 1,300 permitees—including Port of Olympia’s Marine Terminal. 

What the Industrial Stormwater General Permit Requires

The permit is a legal contract that requires the permittee, such as Port of Olympia’s Marine Terminal, to meet the conditions of the permit.  In brief, the primary conditions are:

• Prepare and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and update it as necessary.
• Sample stormwater discharges according to the plan; have a lab test the samples (for turbidity, oil and grease, pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), total suspended solids (TSS), copper and zinc); and report the test results to Ecology.

The goal is to implement and maintain best management practices that identify, reduce, eliminate and/or prevent the discharge of excessive stormwater pollutants into surface water.

What the Port Is Doing to Meet the Conditions of the Permit and Other Agreements

The Port is in the process of updating its Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan which is due in Third Quarter, 2009.  The Port is sampling stormwater discharges, having the samples tested at a lab, and reporting the results to Ecology according to the schedule in the plan.

In addition, the Port has an agreement with Olympians for Public Accountability (OPA) that includes monitoring, sampling, analysis and reporting activities that exceed those required by Ecology’s permit.  Those reporting deadlines and Ecology’s deadlines are included in “Important Dates” below.

Important Dates

This chart is updated periodically to show completions and to add future actions and due dates.