12-14-11: The Big Green Sponge

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111214EIF.mp3

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is building "green" alleys, parking lots and basketball courts with holes in them to absorb stormwater runoff pollution.

Cities and towns across the Chesapeake Bay region are struggling with how to reduce stormwater runoff pollution and meet new federal pollution limits. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is proposing an interesting idea: to rebuild itself into a "big green sponge" to absorb rainwater. Questions remain, however, about whether building water-permeable parking lots, alleys, and parks will solve the city's chronic sewage overflow problems.