El Paso County commissioners unanimously pass ordinance aimed at reducing improper discharges into stormwater system

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- With all of the development and construction happening in the area, county officials want to improve their ability to monitor work sites and prevent erosion or other substances from flowing into storm drains.

On Tuesday, county commissioners unanimously voted to approve an ordinance that gives the county engineer more options in resolving situations that involve warnings, citations and fines.

County Engineer Joshua Palmer said that current regulations don't spell out those options, and commissioners prefer to have options detailed in an ordinance.

Palmer gave no specifics on how often the county cites violators, but said that in most cases no citation is issued and the violator voluntarily agrees to rectify a drainage issue.

"Sometimes, it’s illegal," he said. "I’d say more times than not, people just aren’t paying attention, or we’ve had a significant rain event and their control points have failed or been damaged — which happens often. So, more often than not, I’d consider them accidents or unintentional discharges."

Still, the new ordinance allows the county to fine violators $1,000 for each offense.

County officials are being more responsive to the situation because municipalities are required to have a state permit to operate stormwater systems, and want to avoid being cited and fined for allowing too many improper discharges into stormwater systems.

Palmer said that improper discharges in the county rarely involve discharges of sewage from RVs or campers; he explained that those discharges are more common in urban areas and less common in the county's unincorporated areas.

"When we contact the (violator), we send them the info and recommendations on how to improve or correct them," he explained. "We work with them, provide options and resources. If they aren’t responsive to that, we’ll issue a stop-work order or a violation — which then requires them to respond within a certain amount of time."

The stormwater staff meets with managers at a construction site before work begins, Palmer said, and makes regular visits to ensure that regulations are followed.

"There’s a lot of stuff that we do catch, there’s some stuff that we don’t catch until after the fact," he said. "We have remediation options to go in and fix that. Sometimes, things could be reported to the state that we miss, and the state works with us to correct it, as well."

Palmer added that the county can work with other agencies on testing if improper discharges create an environmental problem.

The manager at a convenience store construction site in Security-Widefield told KRDO that a county staff member visits once a week to see that procedures are followed; he said the site also has an underground filtering system that treats runoff not only from the site bit from much of a surrounding parking lot, before releasing it into a storm drain.

"I think the filtering system could reduce some of the street flooding that happens around here," he said. "The company that owns this store is very aware of proper procedures."

Some neighbors of the future store said that storm sewer violations affect them, too.

"It's great that the county regularly visits a site to check on things," said Tom Mathews. "But with job turnover the way it is now, the employee you advise today, might not be there next week. I'm not surprised that there's a lot of stuff coming from those sites. The county says that it rarely has to fine someone, but it may be time to get tougher."

Danie Lopez agrees.

"I don't believe it's just construction sites, though," she said. "It has to do with people just around the neighborhood. People don't pick up their trash. Bears get in the trash. And it just flows through the street because no one picks up their trash."

One resident sent an email to KRDO after this story aired Tuesday evening, expressing skepticism about the county's enforcement.

"I disagree that the County is holding builders accountable," he said. "I’ve contacted the county numerous times regarding concrete companies... about washing out their truck chutes on the dirt. They’re now washing it onto the street. Zero accountability!"