St. Tammany’s Muddy Waterways – How they get that way and what can be done about it
DEQ’s Jan Boydstun will address Tammany Together meeting, Monday, October 18, 2010

The Mississippi River is often called "The Big Muddy", but St. Tammany Parish waterways sometimes rival the mighty Mississippi for the title. To explain why, and what can be done about it, Jan Boydstun, author of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program, will address Tammany Together’s general membership meeting at 6:30 PM on Monday, October 18, 2010. Ms. Boydstun has 25 years of environmental science experience, 22 of which have been with the DEQ, making her well qualified to explain what citizens, industry, and government can do to improve and maintain the quality of St. Tammany’s waterways.

The meeting, cosponsored by the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany, is open to the public and will be held in the Garden Room of the Christwood Retirement Community, 100 Christwood Boulevard, off of Highway 21 just south of I-12 in Covington. A map showing the location of the meeting is available at www.TammanyTogether.org/files/Christwood.jpg. More information about Tammany Together is available at the group’s web site, www.TammanyTogether.org.

Have you ever looked at a muddy waterway and thought, "How can people be allowed to pollute like that?" Well, the truth is that they’re not, but it happens anyway, primarily due to runoff from various sources. Runoff and the resulting pollution can be mitigated with proper planning and control, and it’s important that these steps be taken soon. Within the next few years, the Environmental Protection Agency will require state and local regulations that will further limit the total amount of all pollution that will be allowed in St. Tammany’s waterways. When this happens, development in some areas may be halted until the level of pollutants is reduced.

St. Tammany residents and landowners, as well as members of parish government and industry, are encouraged to attend this event to learn how they can help preserve the quality of the scenic streams, bayous, and rivers that contribute so greatly to the unique beauty of St. Tammany Parish.