Yellow Pages
With a shirt decorated with images of fish, Paul Dinnel was appropriately dressed for a demonstration of a Smart Sponge that removes oil and grease from storm water before it can enter marine water and harm marine animals.
The new technology is now part of the city of Anacortes’ infrastructure due to funds provided by the Northwest Straits Commission to the Skagit County Marine Resources Committee. In all, seven units were purchased for a total of $5,000, Dinnel said.
Dinnel, an MRC member and Shannon Point Marine Center scientist, demonstrated how a Smart Sponge works May 20 at the Depot Arts Center where one of four units are installed in the city. The MRC partnered with the city of Anacortes to install the Smart Sponges to test the feasibility of using them in this area.
Others are located in drains near the Fidalgo Senior Center on 22nd Street, the Anacortes Community Theater on M Avenue, and at Ninth Street and Commercial Avenue. Each is indicated with a stenciled sign that shows a Smart Sponge is working to remove oil and bacteria.
The MRC is also working with the Skagit County public works department to install more filters in Mount Vernon, near the Swinomish Northern Lights Casino and possibly Bay View.
Each apparatus, purchased from AbTech Industries, has a box frame that fits into the storm drain. A basket insert catches material such as trash, leaves and branches while a filter beneath it absorbs oil and grease, preventing it from leaching.
If the unit becomes full of debris, it is designed to overflow into the drain without clogging it or overflowing onto the street, Dinnel said.
Studies have shown the filter can remove about 70 percent of oil and grease entering it, according to AbTech. The Smart Sponge turns the contaminants into a stable solid for recycling and provides a closed-loop solution to water pollution. The company also produces a Smart Sponge Plus, which includes an agent that destroys bacteria entering a storm drain, such as E. coli and fecal coliforms from pet waste.
Storm water is one of the main sources of contaminants to Puget Sound waters and shellfish, Dinnel said. In the past, the biggest problem was discharge from industry but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act has changed that.
After the Smart Sponges in Anacortes have been in place for a month, Dinnel will clean the units out and weigh the contents to determine how they are working and what the maintenance issues are. Dinnel may also recruit a student to test storm water before and after entering the units in the near future.
The intent is to encourage the city and the county to purchase more of the devices or ones similar and eventually take over the maintenance of them. The city may eventually be required to use such devices because of EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations, which work to control water pollution.
