UM Students Build Natural System to Reduce Anacostia Pollution and Flooding

Bio-Retention Facility is Result of University-Community Partnership

COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Northeast Branch of
the Anacostia River runs through the heart of Edmonston, Md. In somewhat of a
give-and-take relationship, runoff from Edmonston's streets and parking lots
carries many pollutants into the river; when it rains, the Anacostia "gives
back" in the way of flash floods caused by overwhelming amounts of stormwater
coming from upstream communities.

Recently, 24 students from the University of Maryland partnered with local
agencies to develop a natural system that could alleviate the flooding
problems and decrease the amounts of pollutants flowing into the Anacostia
River Watershed by building a bioretention system at Tanglewood Park.

A bioretention system treats stormwater runoff by collecting it in shallow
depressions and filtering it through plants and soil before it ultimately
reaches a larger body of water. This particular system was designed to
naturally filter and treat runoff water from the park's community center,
parking lot and surrounding roadways.

Almost 100 feet of pipe connects the bioretention site to a nearby stream that
feeds the Anacostia -- providing a drainage system for the large amount of
water collected from the nearby hard surfaces, helping to alleviate the
flooding issue.

"For us, the significance of the student's project is that it models
environmental responsibility for other areas," said Edmonston Mayor Adam
Ortiz. "If every development, farm, town and city followed their example, we
would nearly eliminate flooding and in time we would save the Chesapeake Bay."

The students are with the UM A. James Clark School of Engineering's chapter of
Engineers Without Borders (EWB), an organization that usually sends
engineering students abroad to design and build infrastructure projects in
developing countries (over the past five years the Clark Schools' EWB chapter
has sent students to construct simple infrastructure projects in Thailand,
Brazil, Peru, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso). That program is now so popular that
there are too many students to send them all abroad. So, two dozen or so UM
students, led by undergraduates Kristen Markham and Ethan Schaler, recently
turned their attention to the flooding problem much closer to home instead.

Because the project is within the borders of the United States, it is not an
official Engineers Without Borders project.

"This is a service project in which UM students have used classroom knowledge
to be good citizens in their own backyard," said Kevin Calabro, Keystone
instructor at the Clark School, who served as a faculty advisor for the
project. "The project utilizes green engineering solutions to improve the
environment, an emphasis of the university."

The students worked closely with local residents and Edmonston officials, UM's
Facilities Management, the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership, the
Anacostia Watershed Society, the Prince George's County Department of
Environmental Resources, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning
Commission to design and complete the project.

"By doing the project within the United States, we were still able to provide
the same mutual benefits for both the students and the community as that of an
international EWB project," said Markham. "The students attained valuable
experience working in a team with professionals, faculty and governmental
agencies and using their engineering skills to solve a real world problem. The
town of Edmonston, like those communities EWB works with abroad, benefited
from the final project completion."

The project, which was identified by environmental planner, Carol Kennedy
Hearle in the university's Facilities Planning Department, spanned five
months, and was completed at the beginning of June. The Prince George's County
government provided in-kind support. The Chesapeake Bay Trust and the UM
Student Government Association provided financial assistance to the project as
well. Environmental Quality Resources, LLC provided the heavy gear, training
and equipment operators required to complete the construction phase of the
project.

"This project was another manifestation of the linkage Clark School students
see between engineering and social commitment. And they are willing to
demonstrate that by applying not only their engineering education, but also
their own sweat to improve a community's wellbeing and the environment," said
Deborah Goodings, the EWB chapter's main faculty advisor. "The goodwill
cooperation of many partners - university; government; and private -
transformed the project from an engineering learning experience to a shared
lesson in good citizenship."

NOTE TO EDITORS: high-res images are available with the online version of this
release: http://www.eng.umd.edu/media/pressreleases/pr061609_anacostia.html

More Information:
"Managing Anacostia River Storm Water"
http://www.eng.umd.edu/media/pressreleases/images/AnacostiaProject.pdf
"The Anacostia Project: Partnering to Protect the Chesapeake Bay"
http://www.eng.umd.edu/media/pressreleases/images/AnacostiaProject_Background.pdf
"Students Lend Support for Regional Water Quality Improvement"
http://www.eng.umd.edu/media/pressreleases/images/EWBArticle_Hlavinka.pdf
"Partners in Protecting the Chesapeake Bay" (poster)
http://www.eng.umd.edu/media/pressreleases/images/AnacostiaProject%20Sign.jpg

About the A. James Clark School of Engineering
The Clark School of Engineering, situated on the rolling, 1,500-acre
University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md., is one of the premier
engineering schools in the U.S.

The Clark School's graduate programs are collectively the fastest rising in
the nation. In U.S. News & World Report's annual rating of graduate programs,
the school is 17th among public and private programs nationally, 9th among
public programs nationally and first among public programs in the mid-Atlantic
region. The School offers 13 graduate programs and 12 undergraduate programs,
including degree and certification programs tailored for working
professionals.

The school is home to one of the most vibrant research programs in the
country. With major emphasis in key areas such as communications and
networking, nanotechnology, bioengineering, reliability engineering, project
management, intelligent transportation systems and space robotics, as well as
electronic packaging and smart small systems and materials, the Clark School
is leading the way toward the next generations of engineering advances.

Visit the Clark School homepage at www.eng.umd.edu.

SOURCE A. James Clark School of Engineering

Lee Tune, +1-301-405-4679, ltune@umd.edu, or Missy Corley, +1-301-405-6501,
+1-804-398-8652 (cell), mcorley@umd.edu, both of A. James Clark School of
Engineering