Edmonston’s Green Street 

Edmonston is a working-class Port Town of about 1,500 people that straddles the Anacostia River, with a history of severe flooding. Levees and a pumping station were not adequate to protect the town, while stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces that come with development was creating a separate flooding problem. During Ortiz’s tenure as mayor, Edmonston adopted a two-pronged solution. The County financed a new $6 million pumping station that used three enormous Archimedes screws to lift floodwater out of the town and over the levee. At the same time, Mayor Ortiz sought to reduce stormwater runoff and beautify the town by combining stormwater mitigation and sustainability measures to transform Decatur Street, the main thoroughfare, into a “complete Green Street". (Floor Control Goes Greek", Washington Post, 11/24/2007)

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Caption: On Edmonston’s Green Street, rain gardens between the curb and the sidewalk and permeable pavement capture and filter storm water on its way to the Anacostia, improving water quality and reducing flooding. Photo courtesy of Martha Ainsworth. 

The Green Street was one of the shovel-ready projects financed by the Obama Administration’s stimulus program, supplemented by a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and town funds. Decatur Street was narrowed. Rain gardens between the curb and the sidewalk and permeable pavement were installed to capture and filter stormwater on its way to the Anacostia, improving water quality and reducing flooding. Sidewalks were widened, street lights were replaced with LED fixtures powered by wind, native tree varieties were planted to expand the tree canopy, and bike lanes were added that link to the trail system. 

As a result, the flooding has been eliminated, stormwater runoff is being filtered from pollutants, and the quality of life for residents has improved. A second Green Street is under construction on nearby Crittenden Street. There are now many more green streets in the state and country, but Edmonston, under Mayor Ortiz’s leadership, led the way. 

Moving the County toward Zero Waste 

Ortiz’s environmental leadership expanded to the County level in 2012, when he was appointed Director of the Department of Environmental Resources, subsequently renamed Department of the Environment. 

“During Adam’s tenure as DOE Director, the county has made major strides in the direction of reducing waste, increasing recycling and composting, and moving toward Zero Waste principles,” according to Sydney Jacobs, Prince George’s Sierra Club Executive Committee member and Chair of the Maryland Sierra Club Zero Waste Committee. “Following the finding that three-quarters of municipal solid waste at the County landfill could be recycled, composted, or diverted, the mindset of the Department has been transformed from one of waste disposal to waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, and diversion.” 

“Staff have received training in Zero Waste approaches and the Waste Management Division has been renamed the Resource Recovery Division,” Ainsworth added. “Prince George’s is 

expanding its nationally-recognized food waste compost program to be the largest on the East Coast, and has taken the lead state-wide in the recycling rate.” Under Ortiz’s leadership, the DOE has prepared a menu of policies and programs to minimize waste and has commissioned a County “Resource Recovery Master Plan,” set to come out this month for review. 

Caption: Ortiz addresses Sierra Club members at Watkins Regional Park after receiving the 2018 Environmental Service Award. Photo courtesy of Dennis Brady. 

Other innovative environmental initiatives launched by Ortiz as DOE Director include the Clean Water Partnership, a public-private partnership that has retrofitted 2,000 acres of impervious surface using local small and disadvantaged businesses, and an ambitious program to map the County’s litter using a new application called LitterTrak that will help focus resources on addressing litter “hot spots.” The Prince George’s Sierra Club has partnered with DOE to educate businesses on the County’s ban on expanded polystyrene foam food containers. . 

“Adam Ortiz is most deserving of this award,” said former Forest Heights Mayor Jacqueline Goodall and previous recipient of the Sierra Club award. “Over the years as head of the Department of Environment, he has worked hard to raise the consciousness of those in Prince Georges County about environmental matters. He has been open and approachable to discuss residents’ concerns. Under his leadership and through his work and commitment, the Department of Environment in Prince George’s County has grown to be a leader in the state.“ 

Ortiz is originally from Dutchess County, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, where he grew up hiking and fishing on the river. His first internship was with the Hudson River Clearwater, a non-profit that aims to protect the Hudson, its wetlands and waterways, through advocacy and public education. He has a B.A. from Goucher College in Towson, MD. 

The award was presented to Mr. Ortiz on Saturday, July 7th, at the annual Prince George’s Sierra Club picnic at Watkins Regional Park in Kettering. 

The Prince George’s Sierra Club Group established the annual environmental service award in 2005 to honor the late Walter “Mike” Maloney—a civic activist, County Council member, and attorney dedicated to the rights and the quality-of-life of everyday people. Nominees are County residents who have shown excellence in local environmental leadership. Previous winners include Thomas Dernoga (2005), Fred Tutman (2006), Imani Kazana (2007), Carmen Anderson (2008), Paul Pinsky (2009), Kelly Canavan (2010), Bonnie Bick (2011), Dan Smith (2012), Vernon Wade (2013), Jacqueline Goodall (2014), Mary A. Lehman (2015), Lore Rosenthal (2016), and Marian Dombroski (2017).