First in flight
‘Take My Hand’
Beta flies electric plane at Burlington airport
Book chronicles caring for loved one with Alzheimer’s
Page 2
Page 11
Volume 53 Number 49
ECRWSSEDDM
shelburnenews.com
Shelburne grapples with stormwater
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December 5, 2024
Turkey trot
State regulations could cost town, homeowners PATRICK BILOW STAFF WRITER
Precipitation that falls on Vermont must flow somewhere and, eventually, most of it winds up in Lake Champlain, dragging with it pollutants that the federal government says are contaminating the lake. “For the longest time in Vermont, like dating back to colonists, the thinking with stormwater was to just get rid of it, you know? Channel the water and get it off site as fast as possible so it doesn’t conflict with human use,” Shayne Geiger, Shelburne’s stormwater coordinator, said. Through a series of mandates passed down from the Environmental Protection Agency, Vermont finally caught up with that practice and has been trying for the last two decades to decrease contaminates going into Lake Champlain by imposing and tightening regulations in towns and neighborhoods, which have since grappled with how to pay for the costly stormwater improvement projects. That’s been Geiger’s focus since he started working for Shelburne about a year ago. It’s not his only responsibility but bringing Shelburne’s stormwater infrastructure into compliance with the state has become a full-time job. He gave an update on that effort
during last week’s selectboard meeting, where there is some sentiment that the state’s regulations are too onerous and costly, with little environmental benefit. The main pollutant the regulations are meant to address is phosphorus, which is increasing in Lake Champlain, creating green algae blooms that choke off oxygen to different forms of aquatic life. Phosphorus in Lake Champlain originates from several places. Most of it flows from agricultural land, but the next biggest sources are development and streambank erosion, which go together. More development means more impervious surface, which means more stormwater rushing into streams and widening banks. To cut down on phosphorus levels, the state targeted housing developments by enacting a series of stormwater regulations over the last two decades. The first round passed in the early 2000s, and the state began issuing Municipal Separate Storm Sewer General Permits to communities that were out of compliance. The regulations tightened over the next two decades and Shelburne was issued such a permit in 2018. Geiger said Shelburne does OK with phosphorus discharges, but Munroe Brook is considered
PHOTO BY AL FREY
Champlain Valley Union High School students and others ran in the school’s Turkey Trot 5K on Nov. 25 as a fundraiser for the Hinesburg Food Shelf.
See STORMWATER on page 10
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