In its regular monthly Commission Meeting on Friday, April 14, the MWMC will review and address public comments on the proposed local pretreatment and source control regulatory changes. The changes are part of the MWMC's renewed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, which is issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The MWMC accepted public comments during the month of March on the pretreatment modifications, and will decide whether to adopt the new limits with or without changes to the permit wording. The NPDES permit governs how the regional pretreatment teams monitor and regulate industrial wastewater and ultimately helps to keep the Willamette River free from pollution.

The MWMC is partnering with the Long Tom Watershed Council (LTWC) to test the effects of biochar, including poplar biochar, on stormwater facilities. Using a parking lot provided by the Willamette Christian Center, the LTWC is constructing four stormwater filtration facilities in parallel beds. The goal is to create near identical conditions for the four facilities and to compare the effects of soil compositions between them over the coming years as funding allows. Three of the beds will contain a soil composition with 46% compost and 4% biochar, one with a finely crushed conventional biochar, one with a coarse biochar, and one with poplar biochar sourced from the MWMC's Biocycle Farm. The fourth bed will contain no biochar and use 50% compost instead.

The MWMC partners with the LTWC through the Urban Waters & Wildlife Program, which seeks to improve water quality for the Amazon Creek and Willamette River by connecting farmers, businesses, and other groups to resources that can help improve their water quality impacts. The new stormwater treatment system will provide green infrastructure that helps drain and filter stormwater from the Willamette Christian Center parking lot. Construction is expected to finish at the end of April. You can learn more about all the amazing work our partners at the Long Tom Watershed Council do by visiting their website!

The MWMC offers free tours of the regional wastewater treatment plant, and summertime is a perfect time to see how we clean water and protect the Willamette River. If you have a group interested in learning more about water, environmental sustainability, or how local government works to benefit its community, schedule a tour with us! You'll learn all the processes we use to turn waste into sustainable resources, as well as the steps you can take to help protect our environment. We host school groups (or students on summer break), professional groups, civic groups, and citizens who are just curious about what we do. Send us a message to schedule your tour!

Help us protect our rivers and water by disposing of unneeded prescriptions properly! Saturday, April 22 is Drug Takeback Day, and you can drop off old pharmaceuticals to be safely destroyed. Lane Community College will be hosting a drop-off site on their campus, and you can hand over unwanted medications there from 10 AM until 2 PM.

Pharmaceuticals are incredibly difficult to filter out of water, and most public utilities (including us) don't have the money or technology to do so. That's why it's important to always dispose of pills the right way! Take them to authorized disposal points like pharmacies and law enforcement agencies, and never flush them down the drain!

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