Penn E&R Assistant Vice President Damon Kline, PE, PMP and Project Manager Richard Singer, PE presented an innovative stormwater management solution at the 2019 Villanova University Stormwater Partnership (VUSP) Biennial Symposium on October 16-17.
Damon Kline, PE, PMP opens presentation with explanation of Penn E&R’s stormwater management solutions. 
Rick Singer, PE details technical design behind innovative stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP).
“Building Resilience in Stormwater” was the theme for this year’s symposium. Urban stormwater is a major cause of water pollution, especially as heavy precipitation events have increased in frequency and intensity in the last 50 years due to rising global temperatures, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Efforts to better manage stormwater, such as through the integration of green infrastructure designed to promote infiltration and evapotranspiration, have proved to be cost-effective ways to improve resiliency against these rain events by increasing potable water supplies, reducing flooding, combatting urban heat island effect and improving water quality. Speakers at the event included engineers designing and working to apply these resilient systems, regulators evaluating and managing them and contractors constantly working to improve them.
Kline and Singer field questions following presentation. 
Crowd members listen intently during question and answer session.
During their presentation, Mr. Kline and Mr. Singer detailed Penn E&R’s design and implementation of a stormwater BMP for a global manufacturing client in southeastern Pennsylvania, including specific project challenges. Penn E&R completed infiltration testing that showed that the majority of the site had little to no infiltration. There were also an existing stormwater conveyance system and stormwater basins in place, which limited potential locations for new installations of stormwater management controls. A solution seemed distant until Penn E&R learned of a new stormwater BMP during a planning meeting with the local conservation district. The Managed Release Concept (MRC) devised a new, innovative way to manage stormwater using green infrastructure and a restrictive underground outfall pipe to promote infiltration and evapotranspiration over an extended period of time following a rain event.
Attendees visit exhibit booths in between presentation sessions. 
Attendees and exhibitors engage in conversation during short break.
At the time Penn E&R learned of it, the MRC had not yet been officially published as a stormwater BMP by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP); however, Mr. Kline and Mr. Singer designed a way to implement the strategy as two slow-release infiltration basins, including the retrofit of an existing basin. Penn E&R worked closely with conservation district officials and the PADEP to implement the MRC BMP effectively. Just months later in January 2019, the PADEP released a White Paper on the MRC detailing when the BMP is applicable and methods for its implementation in site designs.
For more information on the various site and civil engineering services we provide, contact a Penn E&R professional at 215-997-9000.
