Keep Toxic Pollution out of Puget Sound

We now know that the single largest source of toxic pollution going into the Sound is from our streets and paved surfaces. Rainwater carries toxic contamination from paved surfaces through to storm drains and into our waterways. Cleaning up Puget Sound has been long and arduous, largely because it’s been so difficult to address polluted runoff or “stormwater” pollution.

The state is updating its stormwater permit to allow and encourage more use of green infrastructure, a resourceful way to prevent toxic runoff from polluting our waterways through the use of natural drainage landscaping and green building, or low impact development (LID) techniques. Department of Ecology’s new municipal stormwater permit and LID standards is where the rubber hits the road and presents the single most important opportunity to achieve big results.

2/1/2012: Read also the article "Developers to Legislature: Save us from runoff rules" in Crosscut which discusses the issue.

Together, we can keep polluted runoff from our lakes, rivers and Puget Sound!

1. Submit a comment to Department of Ecology today. Deadline is Friday, February 3rd.
2. Do you have a rain garden? You are a Puget Sound hero! Please take a moment to fill out the on-line “I am a rain garden hero” form that will be submitted as official public comment. Let’s show Department of Ecology that people are implementing feasible green infrastructure techniques!

Right now, the draft permits fail to fully adopt and encourage proven green infrastructure strategies that would make a big difference in preventing polluted runoff and improving the long-term health of the Sound.

• The draft doesn’t include any measures that would prevent a developer from completely paving over existing green space. We know that this not only leads to big water pollution problems, but it increases flooding and taxpayer costs.
• The proposed permits include too many loopholes that allow a business as usual approach. Green infrastructure techniques have been successfully implemented in pilot projects across the region now – adopting them as official best practice is a straightforward next step. If we want to ever yield some actual results in protecting Puget Sound, we need to get moving now – not in ten years.

 

Please take action today to keep toxic runoff at its source, and adopt effective, affordable solutions to clean up pollution entering our lakes, rivers and Puget Sound. And consider forwarding this alert to a friend!

Thank you for all you do!

Rein Attemann
rattemann@pugetsound.org