Middle Tennessee State University and the Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Department will hold a public meeting Sept. 23 to highlight the annual report and outcomes of the campus stormwater program.

The meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Department Operations and Maintenance Facility, located at 1725 S. Church St.

MTSU is co-permitting with the city of Murfreesboro for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, MS4 Permit. The permit is required by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act of 1972.

This is the third year of the program for MTSU and is also the third year of the co-permit between the city and the university.

MTSU and the city are required by TDEC and the permit to hold a public meeting to gather public participation and community involvement with the programs, according to Shelia Knight, environmental engineer with MTSU Environmental Health and Safety Services.

The primary goal of this permit is to improve the quality of surface waters by reducing the amount of pollutants in the runoff water.

Polluted stormwater runoff is commonly transported through municipal storm sewer systems, from which it is often discharged untreated into local bodies of water. To prevent harmful pollutants from being washed or dumped into such a system, operators must obtain a permit and develop a stormwater management program.

For more information about MTSU’s stormwater program, visit www.mtsu.edu/stormwater.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)