West Virginia University has been recognized by the National Wildlife Federation in its “Campus Wild” report recognizing colleges and universities devoted to protecting wildlife and restoring habitats on campus landscapes.

WVU is among 85 higher education institutions from all 50 states and the District of Columbia featured in “The Campus Wild” report, which singles out the University’s Environmental Health and Safety office and its effort to deploy Low Impact Development techniques and for stormwater management.

By implementing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirement known as MS4 for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, the University is reducing runoff into surface waters in coordination with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

“Our purpose is to evolve the campus into an educational demonstration facility to promote awareness about stormwater management, while improving water quality for West Virginia and the nation,” says Brian Lemme, EHS stormwater specialist. “This has been achieved by working with multiple departments, such as Planning, Design and Construction and Sustainability.”

As part of the work to reduce flooding in Popenoe Run and the Suncrest neighborhood, a regional stormwater facility was built at the Erickson Alumni Center around 2007. Since the implementation of the MS4 program, WVU has installed approximately 30 new bio-retention facilities throughout the campus to reduce runoff from the most recent construction.

Partnered with WVU Environmental Health and Safety, the Office of Sustainability has also developed programs, such as Earth Week and Campus Sustainability Day, to motivate the University community to be involved in these efforts by increasing education on the importance of stormwater mitigation practices. At these events, students and faculty participate in activities such as tree plantings and litter cleanups.

In 2013, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection awarded Environmental Health and Safety an Environmental Excellence Award for its stormwater initiatives.

The full National Wildlife Federation report is available at this link.

-WVU-

jg/11/12/15

CONTACT: University Relations/News
304.293.6997

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.