(Conservation Currents,
Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, April
2004)
Last year, The Great American Cleanup, sponsored
by Keep America Beautiful, Inc., reported that 2.3 million volunteers
picked up 148 million pounds of litter and debris in 14,000
communities across the U.S. That’s an incredible accomplishment
for a spring cleanup. But it also says a lot about the extraordinary
amount of trash that is polluting our environment.
One might think that Fairfax County residents,
more educated and wealthier than most Americans, would be above
littering. The folks in the county’s Maintenance and Stormwater
Management Division, however, would tell you otherwise.
Phil Miley inspects privately owned stormwater
management ponds primarily on commercial property. He travels
throughout the county with a camera in hand, capturing images
of negligence and intentional disregard for the health and aesthetics
of our environment. “The amount of trash we find is incredible,”
says Miley. “We’re fighting a losing battle.”
Larry Tapper is a senior maintenance supervisor
responsible for the maintenance of about 1,000 publicly maintained
ponds. He echoes Miley’s comments. Tapper says the county
has a lot of open areas that contractors and developers use
as dumping grounds. He says residents do similar damage by dumping
grass clippings and other yard debris into a drainage channel
or directly into the storm drain. “The public needs to
have a better understanding of proper disposal practices,”
says Tapper.
Billy Glines oversees crews who have to maintain
and repair stormwater structures. Residents are quick to call
the county when their backyards flood. Often, the storm drains
are plugged, which means the crews have to take the lids off
and climb in with buckets. “We find syringes, broken beer
bottles, and oil containers,” says Glines. “People
have to learn that these storm structures are not trash cans.”
In Reston, he recently found a strapped up
bundle of newspapers that were never delivered. “We even
find Christmas trees in the catch basins.”
Click
here for more information about proper waste disposal.
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| Pictured
above is an underground detention system filled to the top
with trash. |
This
publicly maintained dry pond is filled with trash. Any substance
that makes it through the pipe outlet ends up in a stream.
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This
water quality plate was torn off by a member of a homeowner
association. When the plate is installed, it is the primary
device responsible for the detention of trash and other
pollutants picked up by stormwater before flowing further
downstream. The plate reduces the size of the opening of
the pipe outlet, thereby slowing the release of water to
let the pollutants settle out. The trash rack covering the
plate keeps trash from going downstream. |
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