This slide is okay. What I wanted to touch on is, we've kind of talked around some of these issues for long-term park benefits, and 2025 was the big year to have these initiatives, Target 8 and 9, as mentioned before. So the conservation reuse of water is one big benefit that I can present at this time. You're using less water. You're using other alternative resources of water. Improved park durability is huge, because you're going to have less maintenance. And I will be honest with you, the one increased maintenance you're going to have is, this stuff is going to look so good, you may have to cut it more 101 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 and you may have to aerate the grass more, because this stuff grows so well in this environment. I can't speak directly to the cost. That was one question for the Parks Department in terms of the maintenance costs on that. We can discuss more at a later time, but it really is contingent on the site and what you're doing with management. That multi-functional capability is really promoting stewardship too within the City of Philadelphia. You're reusing water, you're actively storing it, and the long-term operational savings. So kind of in closure here, this is a graphic showing traditional design with larger big box or other kinds of developments that look at just running water away. And this is not very different from what we've done with streets and street design. You get water away as fast as you can, and you have to 102 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 have storm piles that are a liability or you have overcapacity in your storm sewer system. Basically by utilization of different management practices, whether it's in your park space or green space, the verges of streets, green roofs and other technology I work with with this technology, as well as applications to sites, we can have sites that decrease their overall impact on the environment, cutting down impervious surfaces and reusing water in any living green space. So that's what I had for you today. I'd love to hear any questions.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your testimony and just very innovative and interesting process. Is the EPIC system a -- it's a sole source type of system? There's no 23 one else doing this kind of stuff?
I work with all the products across the world right 103 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 now and the EPIC is the only one that can do this right now.
No. There's other competitors that they can irrigate subsurfacely, that can drain subsurfacely. Drain tile, for example, is a common competitor, but you don't have a non-logging dual-wall subsurface drainage and irrigation system at the same time.
What was your estimated cost -- I think our ball fields generally are about an acre, which is like a city block, four block city square. Can you give me just kind of a general ball park on what that would cost?
The primary cost for this isn't the technology itself. It's -- or the design for us to figure out how this will work. It's the cost of sand, is the primary medium for 104 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 it, and soil. Sand costs vary by both trucking rates as well as availability for the specification of sand. I priced preliminarily here about $15 a yard for sand, and that was right on par with that $5 to $8 a square foot that was mentioned before.
Where is the sand obtained from generally? According to where you're at in the country?
Yeah. It's available at quarries. So, for example, in Minnesota I can get dredged sand pulled from the Mississippi River and reuse that, but when I'm working in Aspen, Colorado, I have to truck it up there to the mountains and it costs $45 a yard instead of 15.
Now, the dredged sand out of the Mississippi, are there any environmental issues associated with that or is that treated prior to?
What happens 105 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 is is that's Army Corps of Engineers does that, and that's not my thing and I would have issues with that, but it's available as a resource and has been approved.
Well, we've been talking about and getting closer and closer to the dredging of the Delaware and I'm wondering out loud whether or not there's any potential resource. Because part of the problem with the dredging project was that communities, especially in southern New Jersey, were concerned about it being trucked there and landfilled. If it's treatable and environmentally safe, it would seem that that would be kind of a close resource available of soil. I don't know what the sand quality of it is, but I know that they got to do something with it and I'm just wondering whether or not we need to explore what potential reuses of that are.
It's really contingent on the geomorphological 106 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 dynamics of the Delaware and what kind of sand profiles and where it's found in a river itself. I won't go that direction.
I'm not getting -- I'm not a scientist or biologist, but wouldn't it seem likely that the quality or type of soil would be somewhat similar since it's in the proximity of this region? If you're at Murphy Recreation Center at 4th and Shunk and the river is four blocks away, it would seem that there would be some similarities in the soil and in the dredge material that would make them potentially compatible.
Correct, potentially. The quarries that we had located were nearby too, so they would truck for a very low rate.
Thank you very much. 107 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269
Is there anyone else to testify on this? (No response.)
This was intended to be and has been an informational hearing of these two committees. We intend to issue some type of report relatively shortly and then start moving forward on the process of trying to come up with maybe a couple pilot projects that we could maybe get some assistance from the corporate community in Philadelphia. And, again, I think it's important that Water and Rec coordinate to give us some fields in need with some neighborhoods that are under water from time to time, and maybe the coordination of those two would be helpful. So thank you all for your attendance. I appreciate you coming. Thanks. 108 9/1/09 - ENVIRONMENT/PARKS - RES. 090269 (Committees on the Environment and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs concluded at 11:35 a.m.) - - - 109 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on September 1, 2009, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)