Angelica Nurseries was presented with the 2010 Chester Riverkeeper Award for a best practices management initiative that dramatically improved water quality in Chesterville Branch, a tributary of the Chester River.
Angelica executives Bernard Kohl and Jim Kohl accepted the award at Chester River Association’s annual meeting in June.
“Angelica has been a model citizen and deeply deserves this recognition,” Chester Riverkeeper Tom Leigh said. “What they have done has had a direct impact on the environment and to the company’s own bottom line.”
In addition to federal incentives, the 2,100-acre Kennedyville nursery invested $100,000 in the project. The Kohls put the initiative in place after CRA alerted the nursery that water quality monitoring by the organization’s volunteer Chester Testers had revealed unacceptable levels of turbidity and phosphorus in Chesterville Branch.
To address the issue, Angelica added two new sediment ponds and installed a drip irrigation system. The firm also did away with its “traveling guns” or “cannons,” which shoot out high volumes of water. The latter, according to Leigh, resulted in a savings in water, labor costs and fuel.
Chesterville Branch, meanwhile, has posted steep declines in sediment and phosphorus loads, which Leigh attributes directly to Angelica’s actions.
geobart says
Well done Angelica Nurseries!
It is so nice to see business working in concert with conservation to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome.
Thank you for reporting this positive story!