Industrial Sites and
Storm Water
An LA Waterkeeper Blog
Driving through South Central Los Angeles, looking at streets lined by auto
dismantlers, scrap metal recyclers, junkyards, waste transfer stations, and industrial sites of all kinds, it’s easy to think, “I didn’t know there is so much industry in Los Angeles!” In fact, there are literally thousands of industrial sites
in Los Angeles County, many of them discharging pollutants, including bacteria, oil and grease, and toxic metals during both storms and in dry weather.
These industrial sites should obtain a Clean Water Act permit to discharge into
the municipal storm drains and our rivers and creeks. Through our investigations, however, we have been able to discover a number of such facilities who
have been discharging without a permit, in some cases for decades.
These facilities typically do not take any measures to control storm water and
non-storm water pollution, so their discharges cause a great harm to our waterways. Since 2012 we have been able to force 14 unpermitted industrial sites
to obtain a discharge permit through sending citizen notices of violation of the
Clean Water Act and explaining their obligation to obtain a permit and comply
with its requirements. We have also worked with these sites to develop plans
to control storm water and non-storm water pollution control measures. And
because obtaining a permit is only the first step in Clean Water Act compliance, we continue monitoring these facilities’ discharges to ensure they do not
violate water quality standards.
By
Tatiana Gaur