Leaking vehicles pollute waterways
Stormwater is the number one cause of water pollution across the nation. As rain or melting snow travels across hard surfaces like driveways and roads it carries pollutants like oil, antifreeze and other fluids that leaked from vehicles. Once the polluted stormwater enters the stormdrain it is transported, untreated, to a nearby waterway.
In 2021 there was an estimated 283,400,986 registered vehicles in the US (Census Bureau, 2021). There’s a good chance some of those vehicles are leaking fluids of some kind. Oil is the most common fluid leaked and based on the Environmental Protection Agency assessment 720 million quarts of oil are leaked from vehicles each year (EPA 2023). That’s a lot of oil, especially when it only takes 1 quart of oil to pollute 1 million gallons of water! Once in the water oil can be toxic to wildlife, impact recreation, and degrade water quality. Here are some steps you can take to help prevent stormwater pollution:
o Conduct regular automotive maintenance.
o Fix any leaks that are found
o Park on the grass if a leak is suspected.
o Immediately cleanup spills with an absorbent like kitty litter and dispose of material in the trash.
o If you work on vehicles at the house have an emergency spill kit ready for use.
o Never dump anything down a stormdrain, they flow directly to the Pigeon River.
When a community comes together to combat stormwater pollution we all win. Clean stormwater means healthy streams.