Environmental Health and Safety

The Environmental Health and Safety department, housed within Facilities Services, educates and provides support to the Auraria Campus community to prevent and mitigate health and safety impacts on campus. 

Training

Training is available for the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and University of Colorado Denver to make the tri-institutional community safer and more environmentally aware.

AHEC is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all students, staff, and faculty that use the Auraria campus. We have adopted a learning management system to provide a series of training courses available for tri-institutional use. These courses include:

  • Asbestos Awareness
  • Bloodborne Pathogen Safety
  • Confined Space Entry
  • Hot Work
  • Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO)
  • Stormwater Awareness
  • Utility Cart and Vehicle Safety
  • Auraria Hazard Awareness

For access to these courses, please email SafetyOffice@AHEC.edu to be assigned a username and given additional login instructions. 

For those affiliated with or needing information on University of Colorado Denver-specific Environmental Health and Safety information, please use this link to access CU’s EH&S homepage.

Auraria Campus Chemical Inventory

The institutional departments on the Auraria Campus are responsible for the safe storage, handling and disposal of the hazardous materials (e.g. chemicals, compressed gases, aerosols, biohazardous sharps, etc.) generated by their programs. AHEC EH&S utilizes Onsite EHSA for hazardous material inventory campuswide and associated compliance management. If you purchase and use hazardous materials on campus, please contact AHEC EH&S at SafetyOffice@AHEC.edu for access and training.

Stormwater Management

A major responsibility of the Environmental Health and Safety department includes preventing pollution of stormwater drainage systems and monitoring illegal dumping of illicit materials into storm drains.

Stormwater Permit

The Auraria Higher Education Center stormwater permit covers all 152 acres of the campus. To monitor the quality of water discharged into waterways, sampling water discharge, tracking water flow, and annual inspections of all outfalls into waterways may be done.

Stormwater Program Summary

Stormwater is the water runoff from storms, snow melting, and surface drainage that runs into either storm drains or natural waterways. A stormwater permit is required to authorize discharging the flow of stormwater into rivers, streams, or other water bodies. Stormwater is not treated or filtered prior to being discharged into rivers or streams; therefore, the owner of the storm sewer system is required to take certain measures to minimize the contamination of the stormwater.

  • A stormwater permit is issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to give the permittee a guideline of what is required for stormwater drainage into state waterways.
  • The Clean Water Act requires a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to be able to discharge stormwater from the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) into waterways.

Stormwater Phase II Program

The Auraria Higher Education Center maintains another permit, called a Stormwater Phase II Program. This program uses several techniques to reduce pollutants discharged, to protect water quality, and to satisfy the water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act. These techniques consist of the following: 

  • Public Education and Outreach: A public education and outreach program reinforces the public’s personal responsibilities in maintaining a clean environment. Responsibilities include taking steps to reduce the pollutants in stormwater, understanding the impact of stormwater on water quality, and reporting any illicit materials in stormwater drainage by phone or mail. Stormwater drains are marked with either stencils or stickers much like the ones shown below.
  • Public Participation: Public participation is key to this program. This webpage provides information on new developments in the program.
  • Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination: An illicit discharge is defined as any discharge to an MS4 that is not composed entirely of stormwater. Illicit discharges can come from damaged drain systems, pollution, direct and intentional connections to stormwater drains that do not discharge stormwater, or intentional dumping of illicit materials into stormwater drains. To detect illicit materials, inspections of the outfalls are regularly carried out. Samples may be taken, public inquiries are investigated, and pictures of outfalls will be taken. Once a problem has been reported, the source of the illicit material will be identified. The responsible party will be notified and directed to disconnect the illicit connection. If the offender does not take immediate action to correct the problem, then legal actions will be taken. All actions will be documented and reported in the annual stormwater report.

Members of public may submit information—including but not limited to information on illicit discharges or failure to implement or meet control measure requirements associated with applicable construction activities, applicable development sites, or permittee operations—to http://webtma.ahec.edu:82/home.html

Construction Site Runoff

Control Construction activities that result in a land disturbance of greater than or equal to one acre are required to have an operator implement an MS4 program to reduce pollutants in stormwater runoff from the construction site. The program must include an ordinance requiring the implementation of proper erosion and sediment controls, a site plan review of potential water quality impacts, site inspections, and sanctions to ensure compliance.

Post-Construction Runoff Control

Post-construction runoff controls have shown to be the most cost-effective approach to stormwater quality management. Post-construction sediment is easily washed away into stormwater drains. Post-construction runoff controls consist of inspecting completed construction sites, tracking stormwater and waterways connected to newly constructed sites, and reviewing ordinances requiring post-construction runoff controls. Sediments like oil, grease, pesticides, heavy metals, nitrogen, and phosphorus can be left unchecked when a working crew leaves a construction site. Also, water flow in streams and rivers can be severely altered because of new buildings and parking lots and drainage to stormwater sewers, transferring the water to waterways instead of allowing the water to be absorbed by the ground, plant life, and wildlife.

Pollution Prevention

An operation and maintenance program that strictly outlines the procedures and requirements for the MS4 has been put together to help train employees on pollution prevention and good housekeeping practices. Best management practices and measurable goals for the program are also included in the procedures and requirements. Stormwater Awareness training is available at the training link above.

Stormwater Outreach and Education