Conservation district officials praise Murrysville's environmental efforts

Westmoreland Conservation District officials had nothing but praise for Murrysville, the first collective entity — as opposed to an individual or group — to earn its annual Conservation Partnership Award.

“Murrysville’s leadership and citizens are very progressive, and they’ve led the way with a lot of conservation ‘firsts’ — installing storm water ponds, creating ordinances, promoting best management practices,” said WCD hydraulic engineer Jim Pillsbury. “They’ve found the ability to create a balanced mix of open space, development, housing, public safety, citizen involvement, recreation and all the elements that go into making a livable community.”

Decades ago, Murrysville was among the first Westmoreland communities to install detention ponds able to capture water that runs off developed sites and paved surfaces, WCD officials said.

The municipality is in the process of upgrading more than a dozen such ponds, with the goal of handling the growing volume of storm water runoff from new development.

Municipal regulations also dictate that half of any new parking lot must be made of permeable material, which allows storm water to drain through the pavement itself directly into the water table.

Permeable materials are also built into municipal recreation sites like the Roberts Trailhead along Route 22 and the Rotary Miracle Sports Complex at Murrysville Community Park, both of which are situated near state-designated high-quality streams.

“It’s unusual for a suburban community — especially one that’s less than a half-hour’s drive from Pittsburgh — to boast a stream with high water quality,” said WCD Manager and CEO Greg Phillips. “But Murrysville actually has two, which is a tribute to the efforts of its conservation-minded citizens and to the conservation awareness that the municipality builds into its policies and practices.”

Murrysville officials have also taken advantage of the WCD’s low-volume road program, improving portions of both Maolie Road and Morosini Farm Court to reduce the amount of pollutants and eroded soil making its way into municipal streams and creeks.

Phillips said the town has always had citizens who were conservation-minded. In fact, the Conservation Partnership Award is named in memory of J. Roy Houston, a Murrysville resident and WCD board chairman for four decades.

“Roy would be especially pleased that Murrysville is the first municipality to receive this award,” Phillips said.