This site documents efforts by Facilities and Services to keep environmental considerations in mind. Please send comments to Larry Schall, Vice President of Facilities and Services.
Environmental efforts fall into four major areas listed below:
To be better stewards of one of the last green open spaces in Delaware County the Arboretum has taken these steps with the Crum Woods:
This group has been working each year since 1990, following the recommendations laid out by Andropogon Associates in their action plan for the Crum Woods.
To develop the collections of the Arboretum with an environmental sensitivity:
In 1991, Swarthmore College was instrumental as one of the founders of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Research Group. Penn State University, the University of Delaware and professional organizations and businesses in horticulture/grounds management/nursery production in Pennsylvania and Delaware cooperate on research and report alternative methods of pest control on ornamentals. Research projects have included: collection of growing degree day and plant phenological data to study insect life cycles and predict insect emergence; monitoring of detrimental insects and economic/aesthetic thresholds of their damage on ornamental plants; monitoring and release of beneficial insects to control or limit damage done by insect pests; collection of serious boring insects pests through the use of pheromone traps; and training sessions relative to these research topics to educate the group's members. During the growing season, the group publishes its weekly reports and sends these to over 200 subscribers.
Swarthmore College's participation in this group has enabled us to greatly reduce pesticide use on campus, and to teach and encourage other horticultural businesses and institutions in the mid-Atlantic area to do the same.
The Director of Grounds and the Gardener/IPM coordinator monitor for insects and diseases and direct an IPM program on campus.
An emphasis on cultural practices, rather than chemicals, has changed turf management on campus and has reduced the need for chemical herbicides and high amounts of nitrogen fertilizer. Cultural practices that are used are: aeration of heavily trafficked areas at least three times per year; a regular program of turf renovation and overseeding; mowing at higher turf height; topdressing or incorporation of organic matter into turf areas. At renovation, campus turf is now seeded with turf-type tall fescue because it requires less nitrogen fertilizer, withstands foot traffic better, is less affected by drought and is more insect and disease resistant. Athletic fields are being seeded with endophyte-enhanced perennial ryegrass. The endophytes make this turf more resistant to insects.
Gradually, chemically-produced pertroleum-based fertilizer is being replaced on athletic fields by a slow-release all-organic form of nutrient.
The College now recycles 100% of the leaves on campus. Leaves that fall on turf areas are shredded with mulching lawn mowers and left to decompose there. Eventually they add nutrients and organic matter to the turf.
Leaves collected from roads and landscape beds are transported to the College's leaf composting area which is shared with Swarthmore Borough and Nether Providence Township. There the leaves are composted and after several months return to campus to be used as mulch in landscape beds or as a soil amendment to add organic matter when renovating turf or establishing new planting areas. Prior to the availability of our own compost, the College used Earthlife when amending soil or renovating turf grass. Earthlife is composted sewage sludge and wood chips and is made by the Southwest Philadelphia Sewage Treatment Plant. Sewage from Swarthmore College is treated at this facility.
Six years ago, the College purchased a brush chipper to grind tree and shrub branches and logs into small chips. Previously, brush was stockpiled in the nursery area and burned several times a year. All woody plant parts collected from pruning or tree removals are ground in the brush chipper and the chips are compsted in the nursery area. The chips are used as mulch or mixed with leaf compost and used as mulch. Outside tree service companies under contract by the College for tree pruning or removals deposit their brush grindings in the same area for eventual use on campus. Using wood chips or leaf compost as mulch helps plants in landscape beds by conserving moisture in the soil, preventing weeds and making lawn mowing and turf trimming easier. Eventually, these chips and leaves break down in the soil to improve soil structure and release nutrients used by plants.
Several areas of campus and College property are maintained as meadows, minimizing mowing. This greatly reduces the need for weekly mowing during the growing season. Two examples of these meadows are at the Crum Creek Dam site and the lower crabapple orchard below Cunningham playing fields.
Swarthmore College recycles leaves, all paper and cardboard (unless it has been waxed or contaminated by food), aluminum, #1 and #2 plastic and all colors of glass. Recycling containers are in every classroom, office and hall of academic and public-use buildings. Dormitories have recycling containers in the hallway of every dormitory floor. Recycling containers in these buildings are emptied daily by Environmental Services staff, and the bulk material is transported by an outside contractor to recycling facilities in Delaware County to be sorted and processed. In 1997, Swarthmore College recycled 46 tons of mixed paper and cardboard, and 32.5 tons of comingled glass, aluminum and plastic.
The Facilities Management Department utilizes a scrap metal recycler's dumpster to dispose of reusable iron metal left from construction, renovation and regular maintenance.
Constructed during Summer ,1997, the Bio Filter Stream Bed Project began as an environmentally responsible approach to manage storm water flowing from the North and East regions of the Swarthmore College campus. The Facilities Management Department contacted a civil engineer / landscape architect to develop some alternatives to the conventional approach. The conventional approach would have been to install an impermeable 15" plastic pipe delivering all surface runoff into an existing 48" storm water main that leads to a tributary of the Crum Creek. Instead of this conventional approach, we chose an innovative approach 1) to slow the water down to delay its arrival at the outflow, 2) encourage storm water to become recharged into the soil and 3) to filter many of the impurities out of the water prior to entering the Crum Creek Watershed. We created a dry river stone streambed to slow the water down enough to recharge into the soil. We chose a unique selection of plants that absorb and metabolize various impurities, phosphates and metals into the plants in a natural way. This environmentally conscious approach to storm water management has been discussed by many professionals as an innovative model, but few land owners have implemented projects so integrated with their natural surroundings. This project benefitted from collaboration and input from the Art Department, the Engineering Department and the Scott Arboretum.
Students of Engineering Professor Art McGarity have planned to conduct surveys of the storm water outflow to determine its effectiveness in achieving the goals of the project. The visible portion of this project was built between McCabe Library and the Benjamin West House and it is surrounded by a garden that was created by the Scott Arboretum.
The Bio Filter Pond is a proposal to continue the environmentally responsible approach to storm water management begun with the Bio Stream Bed near the McCabe Library. The intent of this project is to create a settling pond that will both slow down the outfall of storm water into the Crum Creek as well as encourage the absorption of various impurities into plants selected for this purpose. The proposed location of the pond would be directly south of Mertz Residence Hall in the marshy land that is a natural low point for the campus. It would receive water from an underground storm water pipe near Chester Road, allow the pond to fill up to a maximum level and then the overflow would return to the same pipe which leads to the Crum Creek. This idea has been identified for possible design and construction for the fiscal year 2002/2003.
Hazardous wastes are collected from laboratories, art studios, facilities services, and other sources, stored in secure locations with secondary containment, and transported to federally permitted and state licensed disposal, recycling, and energy reclamation facilities.
Laboratory chemicals are purchased in the smallest container sizes available to fill immediate anticipated needs to avoid accumulation of stored materials and eventual disposal of leftovers.
Procedures are performed on a reduced scale whenever feasible to reduce consumption of materials and increase safety.
Product substitutions include:
Product substitutions include:
Fuel storage:
Asbestos: Campus buildings were surveyed to identify asbestos-containing materials used in their construction. Materials presenting exposure potential to occupants have been removed where identified. Other asbestos-containing materials are systematically identified and removed as encountered during renovations and repairs. Asbestos removal work is performed under special containment, with accompanying monitoring, to prevent release of fibers to air.
Lead based paint: The presence of lead-based paint in older structures is managed to minimize risks to occupants and to prevent its release to the environment. Painters are trained to minimize disturbance of old paint. Painters use special HEPA-filtered vacuums, tarps, and other equipment to prevent contamination of interiors and soil surrounding buildings.
Mercury: A sampling survey was conducted throughout science facilities and other structures where mercury usage was suspected in the past, to identify contaminated areas left by old spillage. These spills are being remediated.
Spill response: Chemical sorbents, oil booms, neutralizers, overpack containers, and similar supplies are staged in several locations for rapid response to chemical spills and fuel leaks (e.g., vehicles) to prevent release to the environment. Public Safety officers are trained in initial response and carry basic supplies in their patrol vehicles.
Between 1991 and 1997 we replaced the windows in 15 buildings. All the new high performance windows were furnished by Wausau Metals, all are double glazed and are thermally broken. The double hung windows have a thermal transmittance/U-Value of .64 and an air infiltration of .10@1.57. Those windows were installed in Papazian, Hicks, Mary Lyon 4, Parrish (1ST and 2ND floors), Wharton, Sproul, Pearson, Pittinger, Plamer, Roberts and Trotter Halls. The curtain wall windows have a U-Value of .65 and an air infiltration of .02@6.24. Those windowswere installed in Dana, Hallowell, Sharples and Willets Halls. In addition, we used the same curtain wall system in LPAC and Kohlberg.
We worked with Wausau because they provided very high quality architectural design and architectural grade windows that were energy efficient, along with responsible practices in recycling of aluminum products and a very high quality aluminum finishing operation. The quality finishes eliminate the need to repaint in the field for at least 30 years.
Projects such as the ongoing recovery of oil-in-soil from former underground fuel tank at Facilities, various explorations of the Crum Creek and Woods, and analyses for pesticide residues on athletic fields have provided opportunities for students in environmental courses to use the campus as a laboratory. Biology students have used the campus's natural spaces to provide ecological education to local high school students under a special program.
The concept could be readily expanded to a range of studies that could serve as environment-related coursework and provide results valuable to the management of the campus.
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last updated 2/16/99
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