Storm Water
Pollutants
The most common pollutants found in rivers and on beaches are trash such as fast-food wrappers, cigarette butts and Styrofoam cups, toxins like used motor oil, antifreeze, fertilizer, pesticides and pet droppings, and metals and bacteria.Storm Water Treatment
Local storm water is not treated at a sewage treatment facility unlike the waste water from your home. This is why some beaches are closed after rains and why some surfers get sick.National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Common daily activities of the thousands of industrial/commercial businesses in Los Angeles Region leave behind tons of exposed pollutants. Every day in the region, millions of gallons of untreated urban runoff washes all types of exposed pollutants from properties and city streets, into storm drains and finally into receiving waters such as channels, rivers and the ocean. On rainy days this polluted runoff combines with storm water runoff, resulting in a huge volume of polluted storm water/urban runoff that flows through the storm drain system to the ocean without treatment. These polluted flows cause public health and safety concerns at the beaches, kills and contaminates aquatic life, destroys habitat, and leaves behind hundreds of tons of waste that costs taxpayers millions of dollars annually.
The problem in Los Angeles County has been experienced in urban areas nationwide and has lead to the 1987 amendments to the Federal Clean Water Act regulating storm water/urban runoff. Established under the Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations protect receiving water quality through two primary objectives:
- Effectively prohibit non-storm water discharges to the storm drain system
- Reduce the discharge of pollutants to the storm drain system to the maximum extent practicable through the implementation of control measures called "Best Management Practices" (BMPs).In California, Federal and State NPDES regulations are enforced by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) 9 Regional Water Quality Control Boards requiring certain facilities to file a Notice of Intent (NOI), and implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to control storm water pollutants.
NPDES Permit Requirements
As a permittee under the Countrywide NPDES Permit, the City of Inglewood adopted Ordinance to allow implementation of the programs required by the Permit. Codified in the Inglewood Municipal Code as Article 15 of Chapter 9, "Storm Water and Urban Runoff Controls," the ordinance includes the following requirements for owners/operators of industrial/commercial facilities: - Obtain permits for all connections to the storm drain
- Discharges to the storm drain must be composed entirely of storm water except as permitted
- Implement appropriate BMPs
- Regularly sweep and clean all parking lots with 25 or more spaces
- Comply with all applicable NPDES requirements