Reduce Polluted Flows From Your Site
How you care for your property can impact nearby streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. Roofs, walkways, parking lots, and lawns often direct rainfall into the roadway and down street drains. These flows that run off your property can pick up contaminants from surfaces along the way — trash, fertilizers, detergents, salt, motor oil, and any chemicals used on site — and move through drains out to pollute nearby waters.
DID YOU KNOW?
HEAVY METALS
Are harmful to marine life and impact the entire food chain.
MICROBIAL POLLUTANTS
Can carry infectious diseases in water.
SULFATE PARTICLES
Change the pH of water, making it more acidic.
Image source: www.holyoke.org
Three Key Strategies
PREVENT DUMPSTER AND COMPACTOR "JUICE"
Keep dumpsters and compactors covered at all times so that rainfall does not run through garbage, leak "juice" onto parking lots, and wash off into storm drains. This "juice" can contain oil, grease, sediment, and bacteria. If you see such liquid, work with your solid waste contractor to make sure the dumpster is frequently emptied, lids are in good condition, and that the dumpster and/or compactor are water tight. Also, locate your dumpster and compacter as far away from storm drains as possible.
PREPARE FOR AND PREVENT SPILLS
Walk your grounds to identify the specific areas with the greatest risk of spills or leaks. Make sure spill kits appropriate to the area are installed and well stocked at all of these high risk areas. Most importantly, employees should be trained and tested through simulations in how to respond. For more tips on preventing spills, please click here. To learn more about oil spill prevention, visit the Mass.gov webpage.
FERTILIZE LAWNS LESS
Get a soil test before you or your grounds contractor apply any fertilizer to your lawn or garden. The results will let you know what your lawn and garden actually need in terms of nutrients. Click on "Get a Soil Test" at the following link here. It is simple and inexpensive. To read more about lawn and yard care, click here.
For more information...
See EPA's Industrial Stormwater Fact Sheet Series, where you can find information specific to stormwater at your industrial operation.