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Press Release

Groundwater and NPDES—Marcia Greenblatt to Moderate Panel at American Bar Association’s Water Law Conference

The American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources is hosting its 37th Water Law Conference on March 26–27 in Denver, Colorado. Integral Principal Marcia Greenblatt, Ph.D., P.E., will moderate a panel titled “NPDES Permits for Discharges Carried by Groundwater: Is That a Thing?” This panel will discuss the status of the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulation and challenges in implementing the law, while providing practical knowledge to assist stakeholders.

The CWA prohibits the discharging of pollutants from a point source into waters of the United States (WOTUS) without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. By definition, a “point source” does not clearly include groundwater. However, recent federal court decisions have determined that discharges through groundwater hydrologically connected to WOTUS are subject to regulation under the CWA. These recent decisions leave regulation ambiguous and pose substantial technical and regulatory challenges.

Learn more about the conference.

Dr. Greenblatt is well-known for her experience in conducting hydrodynamic, water quality, and sediment investigations. She has extensive involvement in water quality and thermal mixing zone evaluations to support NPDES permitting and experience in designing data collection programs and performing modeling studies. Dr. Greenblatt has provided expert technical support and testified in court on multiple water quality issues.

For more information on Integral’s surface water and groundwater services and knowledge of CWA regulations, contact Dr. Greenblatt at mgreenblatt@integral-corp.com.