Middle Tennessee State University and the city of Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Department invite the public to attend an upcoming meeting regarding the handling of campus stormwater.

MTSU is co-permitting with the city of Murfreesboro for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) MS4 Permit. This 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.

The public meeting will highlight the annual report and outcomes of the program.  The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in Meeting Room B at Patterson Park Community Center located at 521 Mercury Blvd. 

This is the first year of the program for MTSU and is also the first 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 Separate Storm Sewer Systems, also called MS4s, 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 NPDES permit and develop a stormwater management program.