CWA Questions

Tony Shelton

BS Detector, Esquire
I just accepted it as the Gospel truth that we can't dump anything but clean water or storm runoff down the storm drain.

Looking around the Nevada state web site I found all kinds of permits you can BUY to dump construction runoff and industrial runoff. You have to pay to play looks like.

I just read the entire CWA here:http://epw.senate.gov/water.pdf

I can't for the life of me find where dumping wash water without chemicals is in violation of the act. Maybe I missed it.

What I did find was tens of pages of setup for fees and permits to ALLOW discharge into the storm drains.

There's even a section where local governments are told (in 1987 or 88) to determine what discharges are considered exempt.

Did we, as an industry miss an opportunity to stand up and defend ourselves in 1988?

I looked up many cities and most of them have excemptions for "street wash water". One example is here: http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/ordinances/stormwater.cfm
I also found them in California and Colorado.

How is it that street washing with all it's oil and transmission fluid and everything else got an exemption and we couldn't get one for washing the sidewalk next to the street?

Who dropped the ball?

Can we pick it up again and start working on a national exemption?

What are we afraid of?
 
You're never gonna get any dots back.

I got my own stinking dots......:D
dots.jpg
 
Tony, I am no expert on CWA, but much of it is set in stone, its the law., be impossible to change now I would think

As for the street sweepers I heard it explained something like this,...Yes some goes down the drain, but if they didnt have the sweepers more would go down the drain in heavy rains etc, sort of the lesser of two evils. Plus those sweepers are run by the gov, basically and they can exempt themselves in many cases
 
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6en/w/pw.htm

The most common method of compliance with the CWA is to prevent process wastewater discharges to waters of the United States. If your discharge does not reach waters of the United States, then there are no requirements under the CWA.

I'm just going by what big brother says, we always reclaim when we need too. RARELY have too
 
Tony, I am no expert on CWA, but much of it is set in stone, its the law., be impossible to change now I would think

As for the street sweepers I heard it explained something like this,...Yes some goes down the drain, but if they didnt have the sweepers more would go down the drain in heavy rains etc, sort of the lesser of two evils. Plus those sweepers are run by the gov, basically and they can exempt themselves in many cases

I'm not talking about changing the act. I'm talking about working towards sensible exemptions for our industry. Other industries have exemptions.
 
Enforcement, has not been a real issue here lately. I think they moved onto bigger things than the tiny amount of pollution guys like us produce. I have been pulled up on twice and just had oil socks out before the drains. and nothing was really said and no issues.

That being said I have heard of two tickets being issued for 5,000- 10,000

Jeff Robison
Clean Up Atlanta
678-360-2518
 
Enforcement, has not been a real issue here lately. I think they moved onto bigger things than the tiny amount of pollution guys like us produce. I have been pulled up on twice and just had oil socks out before the drains. and nothing was really said and no issues.

That being said I have heard of two tickets being issued for 5,000- 10,000

Jeff Robison
Clean Up Atlanta
678-360-2518

Yeah then they left you high an dry
 
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