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S&S Seeds, Inc.
P.O. Box 1275
Carpinteria, CA
93014-1275

(805) 684-0436
(805) 684-2798 fax

Construction Site Erosion
Costly, Illegal

© 1997, 1998 Streamline Publications

Take this Quiz!

What is this 12 by 9 by 40-inch long object?
  1. Large, low-fat sausage.
  2. Genetic experiment in dachshund-turtle crossbreeding.
  3. Shillelagh on steroids.
  4. Antipollution device.

If you answered 1, 2, or 3, give yourself credit for an active imagination and extra credit for knowing what a shillelagh is (a short, heavy club named for an Irish town).
If you answered 4, an antipollution device, go to the head of the class.
The Agromin Bio-Filter Bag, a product that replaces anti-erosion devices and methods currently used on construction sites.


Dirty Shame
What used to be muddy water is now a pollutant, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The eroded soil need not have any hazardous or harmful constituents, such as agricultural chemicals, to be considered a pollutant—or to subject the person or company causing it to stiff penalties.
Construction site storm water runoff should be avoided regardless of whether the federal, state and local authorities enforce the EPA's rules. It is a simple matter of money and liability. One would be hard-pressed to justify soil erosion from a construction site. The economics point strongly toward prevention.

The Last Straw
Before Agromin Bio-Filter Bags came on the scene, contractors had little choice in how they stopped job site erosion. Straw bales, straw wattles—straw-filled mesh tubes—or sandbags were arranged on slopes to slow or stop the water. The straw had to be entirely removed from the site and disposed of before landscaping could be done. Straw materials, especially rice straw, were slow to degrade. Even with removal, the straw could introduce unwanted seed into the area. The removal effort was labor intensive and costly. Sand was heavy to work with and had to be moved or spread.

Attractive Alternative
Agromin's Bio-Filter Bag is an attractive, ecologically sound alternative to straw or sandbags.
The mesh bags are filled using 100 percent recycled wood chips. Water flows through the bags while the rough-edged wood chips hold back entrained soil, silt and debris.
Unlike the UV light degradable (photodegradable) straw wattle mesh bag, the Bio-Filter Bag mesh does not break down in the sunlight—an important characteristic on long-term job sites.
So what happens when the bags are no longer needed? Removal of the entire bag and its contents is unnecessary since the wood chips merely add mulch to the topsoil. The mesh container is slit and pulled away by workers while the wood filling remains in place. The wood chips and the soil which they have strained from the runoff water are then spread across the planting area. Disposal is limited to a few ounces of plastic from each filter bag.
The wood chips are clean, 100 percent recycled log and stump waste and contain no plastic, metal or weed seeds. There won't be any surprise growths blooming in the new plantings.

Versatile
The Agromin Bio-Filter Bags are suitable for open slopes and embankments, gullies, catch basins, culvert retention areas, roadside ditches, swales and around drain openings.
The filter bags are easily installed. At about forty-five pounds each, workers can readily handle them.
Depending on application, the bags can be staked in place using two 1 x 2 inch wood stakes or their equivalent for each filter bag. Agromin Bio-Filter Bags are available at S&S Seeds now along with expert advice from Albright consultants.

Paul Albright, of Albright Seed Company, holds a revolutionary antipollution device.

Contact Albright before the government calls you!
Agromin Bio-Filter Bag

For more thoughts on erosion, see Keeping Soil in Place Preferred.


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S&S Seeds, Inc.
P.O. Box 1275
Carpinteria, CA 93014-1275

(805) 684-0436
(805) 684-2798 fax

International Erosion Control Association

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