• There’s just no good reason for stormwater to be running over impervious surfaces, picking up contaminiants and dumping them in public waterways. If we developed stringent policies and local ordinances that directed us to manage our rainwater on site through capture with reuse and/or infiltration, then stormwater would be vastly reduced. This is the tact the cities of San Francisco and Emeryville have taken in California, both of which have produced inniovative stormwater guidelines for new construction.

    Unfortunately, not all developers and builders have the interest of water quality in mind.  The State of Washington has taken some impressive steps to make it clear that they are serious about stormwater pollution reduction in taking a particularly offensive developer to task legally.

    “Washington State and federal regulators wrangled for more than three years with Bryan Stowe and Stowe Construction to clean up the muddy mess that caused two landslides in 2011 that closed the West Valley Highway through Sumner, Pierce County.

    Now Stowe, his company and an employee have earned a dubious distinction: They are the first Western Washington defendants to plead guilty to criminal charges in U.S. District Court in connection with stormwater pollution.

    Tyler Amon, acting director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in Washington, D.C., said the prosecution is a sign that Stowe repeatedly chose “profit over protection.”

    “For us to have to go to felonious conduct … that’s a big step,” Amon said. “But it’s because our regulatory enforcement tools had not brought him into compliance. When those tools aren’t enough, it’s just arrogance.”

    Read the Full Article from the Seattle Times

    Read about Rainwater/Stormwater Management on Wholly H2O