Stormwater Flooding and Pollution on His Mind
Maryland’s DOE Secretary Ben Grumbles to Tour Innovative Stormwater and Environmental Projects at ANS as part of Gov. Hogan’s Montgomery County Day
For Immediate Release – September 25, 2018
For more information, contact Caroline Brewer at [email protected] or 301-652-9188, ext. 23, or Mark Shaffer at [email protected]
CHEVY CHASE, MD – Ben Grumbles, Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, will tour Audubon Naturalist Society’s headquarters at Woodend Nature Sanctuary to learn more about ANS’s innovative “tree-safe” rain garden and other green infrastructure projects. ANS’s year-old rain garden features more than 300 native trees and shrubs and two lengthy compost-filled berms that filter and slow polluted stormwater, a technology that is essential to help this region combat the flooding and other damage done to property, homes, businesses, and roads during severe storms and hurricanes, like the ones we’ve experienced just this summer.
ANS also is in the process of restoring its meadows and forests by planting thousands of new trees, shrubs, wildflowers and native plants, which the Secretary will get to see during his tour. The sanctuary is bursting with rich and ever-expanding biodiversity that’s already attracting more pollinators, insects, and birds. And, the region’s longest serving independent environmental group is planning to restore its Clean Drinking Stream to improve wildlife habitat and educational opportunities. The rain garden and other green infrastructure projects are designed as demonstration projects for local homeowners and residents, and the sanctuary is a year-round outdoor classroom open to all.
WHAT: Secretary of the Department of the Environment will tour ANS’s nature sanctuary
WHEN: Tuesday, September 25, 2:15 p.m.
WHERE: ANS headquarters at Woodend Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
WHO: Maryland’s Secretary for the Department of the Environment Ben Grumbles, MDE’s Deputy Secretary Horacio Tablada, ANS Executive Director Lisa Alexander, ANS Conservation Director Eliza Cava, and ANS Restoration Director Alison Pearce.
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Follow ANS at: www.Facebook.com/Audubon Naturalist SocietyNaturalistSociety, www.Twitter.com/ANStweet
and @ANSNature on Instagram.
About ANS: Throughout its history, ANS has played a pivotal role in conserving our region’s iconic natural places from development including the C&O Canal, Dyke Marsh and, most recently, Ten Mile Creek. Past ANS member and board president, Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, is credited with launching the now global environmental movement. ANS‘s nature experts provide hundreds of opportunities each year for children and adults to enjoy, learn about, and protect the environment.