Environmental Questions & Answers

Learn what to do when a lab forgets to test anything in your stormwater sample.

The odds are pretty good that if you're reading this article, you already understand that stormwater permits likely require some form of stormwater sampling, monitoring, or testing.

What you need to know about the Basic Industrial Stormwater Permit (5G2) in New Jersey.

When it comes to stomwater permits here in New Jersey, figuring out what you need, don't need, and how to navigate the path to compliance with the regulations can be tricky. For any operation that isn't covered by one of the "industry-specific" stormwater permits, there's a chance you might be able to be covered by the Basic Industrial Stormwater Permit, or the 5G2 Permit for short.

Here's how to do a stormwater visual inspection.

Nearly every NPDES stormwater discharge permit in the United States, from the Federal Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) to state MSGPs and other state-specific stormwater discharge permits, a very common requirement in many of them is that permit holders (that means you) conduct "visual monitoring" of their stormwater discharges.

Learn why the right water testing lab for stormwater or process wastewater matters!

In today's age, running a business comes with a lot of responsibilities. One thing we see tightening up more and more, whether it's pressure from 3rd party environmental groups or government regulators, is your environmental responsibilities. Just about anyone across this country that owns or operates any type of industrial facility has probably heard of NPDES stormwater permits. If you haven’t heard of them, read What are NPDES stormwater permits?

Learn the difference between stormwater and process waste water.

When it comes to NPDES permits, whether you're in New Jersey, Florida, Hawaii, you name it, there's a huge difference with regards to stormwater and process water. Most, if not all, NPDES permits have very strict and specific regulations for stormwater and process water.

No Discharge on a DMR? Learn if you're putting yourself at risk.

Having an NPDES stormwater permit means having responsibilities, such as doing your regular stormwater sample reporting, usually via a Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR), which can be a very intimidating task. Particularly, now that electronic reporting is a requirement and is being implemented almost everywhere in the US.

The entire DMR process is now confusing, complicated, poorly functioning, full of "codes" and more headaches. So what should you do if you don't get a stormwater sample? If you're tempted to enter "NODI" or "no discharge" on that DMR, you should think twice.

We explain how you can get better stormwater samples from our stormwater outfall.

For anyone out there that works at or operates an industrial facility, chances are you have (or need!) an NPDES permit. Might be for stormwater, might be for a commingled discharge, but the point is most operations have some sort of permit they need to stay in compliance with. Even more to the point, you probably have to sample stormwater leaving your site and get it tested.