Hermosa Beach storm water system receives EPA award
Douglas Morino
Daily Breeze
03/21/2011
A year after work was completed on an elaborate system in Hermosa Beach that prevents storm water from reaching the ocean, the project has earned the city another prestigious prize.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week named the Strand Infiltration Project as the winner of the 2010 Performance and Innovation in the State Revolving Fund Creating Environmental Success - or PISCES - Award.
The award was created in 2005 and recognizes public works projects aimed at cutting down environmental pollution that are efficiently designed, managed and financed.
"It is truly an honor for the city and everyone involved in this project to have this recognition for all of the hard work and planning that went into the Strand Infiltration Trench Project," Hermosa Beach Mayor Peter Tucker said in a statement. "Our city is committed to exploring new opportunities to make Hermosa Beach green."
It is the second award the city has received for the ambitious project, which prevents filthy storm water from reaching local waters off the coast. In December, the Strand Infiltration Trench was named Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association.
City engineers designed the project to take advantage of the city's location - on a massive sand dune - by using sand as a natural filtration system for polluted urban water runoff.
Work was completed in April and funded with about $950,850 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars.
The infiltration trench lies underground and stretches about 1,000 feet south of the city's pier, collecting storm water and filtering it before returning it to groundwater tables.
Water is collected in city storm drains and processed through a pretreatment system, which removes trash, sediment and other toxins. The storm water is then filtered by sand to remove bacteria as it slowly flows safely to replenish ground water.
The infiltration trench is the second public works project completed by city engineers within the last year aimed at reducing the beach town's environmental footprint.
In October, work was completed on the Pier Avenue Beautification Project. Improvements to the city's main thoroughfare include wider sidewalks, a landscape center median and an additional storm drain and water-filtration system that further keeps polluted water from reaching the ocean.
The recent EPA award is the second the city has received from the agency for the pair of recently completed public works projects.
