Conservation throughout the supply chain
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altria Group, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. (USSTC) shares a commitment to responsible manufacturing and marketing of their product. With a focus on crop, environment, and labor management, the Altria Leaf Procurement team drives continuous improvement in the tobacco supply chains to protect the rights of farmworkers, build sustainable futures for farmers and their communities and protect the environment. The Nashville facility sources its tobacco leaf product from farms within a 100-mile radius. Some of the world’s finest tobacco has been grown in Tennessee and Kentucky, and to this day, is the livelihood of many family farms.
Altria recognizes that runoff from farmland into streams or rivers can hurt water quality. They work with nonprofit partners like the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to better understand how agriculture, like tobacco farming, affects watersheds.
With funding from Altria, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Cumberland River Compact has helped support the conservation goals of tobacco producers in Montgomery and Robertson Counties in Tennessee through the purchase of no-till tobacco equipment made available to interested farmers. The equipment is available for rent at the Robertson and Montgomery County Soil Conservation districts and can be used to experiment with no-till planting methods that reduce erosion and improve soil quality.
New Rain Gardens in Nashville Support Conservation and Water Quality
USSTC just finished adding two rain gardens to its large property in downtown Nashville. And it’s a major step forward in the facility’s conservation work.
“Since 2009, we’ve been working with the Cumberland River Compact to support their efforts of clean water and protecting the Cumberland River basin,” says Greg Shiflett, VP of USSTC Manufacturing in Nashville and member of CRC’s Board of Directors. “This is where we live and work. Our supply base and farmers are all in the Cumberland River basin. Clean water is essential to our work.” One of Altria’s Responsibility Focus Areas is to Protect the Environment.
“We have huge facilities and parking lots in downtown Nashville,” says Greg. “We asked the CRC to walk our property to learn what we could do to help with water conservation, particularly with our large footprint in the heart of the city.”
USSTC’s first and largest rain garden was installed in the back of the facility, with the second installed in the front of the property. “This facility has endured flooding over the years, and this whole area regularly sees local flooding and damage from storms, even when the river doesn’t rise,” says Charlie. “When we reduce stormwater runoff, we can help minimize soil, nutrients, oil, and other chemicals from washing into streams, rivers, and groundwater. This project highlights how we contribute to improving water quality in both our operating and tobacco-growing communities.”
The Northeast Rain Garden
Along Rosa Parks Blvd., this 1,400 sqft. rain garden sits tucked between the USSTC facility and an apartment building with a small dog park. The garden features a variety of screening trees, shrubs, perennials, and river rock.
- Anticipated annual stormwater capture: 58,800 gallons
The Harrison St. & Rosa Parks Blvd. Rain Garden
This 1,600 sqft garden is responsible for intercepting and capturing stormwater from the adjacent parking lot that would otherwise flow directly into a storm drain.
- Anticipated annual stormwater capture: 67,200 gallons
Rain gardens manage stormwater
A rain garden is a depression with native plants and soil that absorbs that runoff and provides natural cleaning and filtration before it goes back into the system, explains Charlie Martin, Manager, Community Impact. “These rain gardens will reduce peak storm flows. They’re great examples of stormwater management in an urban ecosystem.”
Like many cities, Nashville has a “combined sewer,” where both storm and sewer water use the same pipe to go to a treatment facility. During big rains, precipitation overwhelms the system. The excess runoff flows across paved areas, collecting contaminants like fuel, pesticides, and refuse — and eventually goes directly into the river.
“Any reduction in water hitting the storm drains means it is an equal reduction in sewer overflows during heavy rains,” says Cumberland River Compact’s Mekayle Houghton.
Trees, trees, trees
The Nashville team has also planted over 100 trees on the property where CRC recommended that will advance the Root Nashville campaign goal of planting 500,000 trees in Davidson County by 2050. “This work is environmentally friendly and enhances beautification,” says Greg. “And from a broader perspective, we hope we can be an example to other companies to do similar projects to benefit the larger Cumberland River watershed.”
Being in the heart of Nashville often means a low tree canopy, hot temperatures, and little shade. USSTC maximized the use of existing green space around the perimeter of the facility as well as the perimeter of the parking lot to welcome new trees. Trees provide so many needed benefits to urban areas like temperature regulation, water storage and filtration, improved air quality, and more. Our urban trees often need a little more care too, especially in their early years of getting established.
Species of Ginkgo, Redbud, Tulip Poplar, Magnolia, Sugar maple, Dogwood, Tupelo, and Juniper were added to the property and have been incorporated into the facility’s landscaping maintenance plans.
An example for other companies
“USSTC Nashville employees have been great volunteers for the CRC through the years”, according to Mekayle Houghton, Executive Director of the Cumberland River Compact. “Now, USSTC is the first large company in Nashville to voluntarily install rain gardens,” she says. “They lost some parking spaces with this installation, so they educated employees about why they were building the rain gardens.”
Mekayle notes: “They’re doing this just to be good stewards of their property and for Nashville’s environment and watershed.”
Interested in learning about how the Cumberland River Compact can help advance your company’s conservation goals? Contact the Cumberland River Compact today to start a conversation.
