Manhattan Kansas - K-State - Passes Stormwater Ordinance
Ξ August 23rd, 2007 | → | ∇ Kansas, Phase II, MS4 |
The Stormwater Ordinance is one of the first steps necessary to comply with Phase II Requirements. Manhattan, Kansas announced this morning that they have passed their ordinance.
In brief the ordinance prohibits the following:
domestic sewage or septic tank waste, garbage, industrial waste, wastewater that contains soap, detergent, degreaser or solvent; yard wastes that have been moved or gathered by a person, any discharge from a petroleum storage tank, and effluent from a cooling tower, condenser, compressor, emissions filter; or the blowdown from a boiler.
The article also includes a pretty embarrasing quote from one of the city commissioners:
Commissioner Mark Hatesohl said the city was a “bad polluter” in the way it applies large volumes of salt each winter to streets. He said the city needed “a more environmentally friendly ice-melter.”
It’s okay Mark, de-icing activities are almost universally allowed as permitted non-stormwater discharges.
What’s interesting about the announcement is that violation of the ordinance appears to be a misdemeanor offense. This is probably a mistake. By making it a criminal offense, you have created a situation where the punishment may not meet the crime. Are you going to give a guy who dumps a two gallon bucket of car wash soap down the storm drain the same punishment as someone who decides to empty out 100 paint cans or a lawn service that dumps thousands of pounds of clippings down the drain?
Instead, a fine structure would be more appropriate for this kind of ordinance. Start it at $50 and scale it up to as much as $10,000 per incident. That way you can create an appropriate response for violators.
-Stormwater Guru
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Kansas Mark Hatesohl MS4 ordinance Phase II stormwater
