City mulls water rules changes

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jhancock@journalnet.com

POCATELLO -- The City Council is considering four new ordinances to help decrease the pollutants in stormwater runoff that drains into the Portneuf River, a city official said Monday.

John Sigler, Pocatello's senior environmental coordinator, said the ordinances have been in the works for more than six months. They included two federally required ordinances and two others that the city has developed. The City Council will host a study session on Nov. 13, during which it will hear presentations from city staff members regarding the four ordinances.

The two federally required ordinances included an illicit discharge prohibition, which prohibits the discharge of nonstormwater into any of the city's municipal separate sewer system, and a control over construction sediment and erosion, which would require stricter controls for builders.

The two remaining ordinances include one that would require commercial and private loads transported within city limits to be covered, and a second that would prohibit the placement of dust or debris onto any portions of the city rights-of-way, including sidewalks and streets.

Sigler said a cover over loads, such as dirt carried to and from construction sites, or debris hauled by landscapers, would help with both air and water quality. He said the city has also received complaints from a number of people about debris flying out of these trailers while driving behind them.

"The covered load seemed like a good idea at this time, based on our perspective," Sigler said. "They are a multimedia pollutant with both air and stormwater concerns."

He said the dust-debris containment and abatement ordinance covers the same concerns, keeping pollutants off city streets where they would flow into the Portneuf River during the next storm.

Put simply, the ordinance says property owners need to keep their dust and debris, such as sand or grass clippings, on their own property or dispose of it in a way that does not include moving it onto city property.

"A lot of debris is moving off private property and into the street," Sigler said. "A lot of that ends up in the Portneuf after the next storm. One of the biggest issues we have with (pollution in) the Portneuf is sediment."

He said there is already a city ordinance that prohibits putting debris on city streets, but this ordinance takes it a step further. It's not the individual property owner that is of concern, but the collective affect from all property owners.

"On an individual basis, it's not a big deal," Sigler said. "But there are more than 17,000 households in Pocatello. At a pound a day of sediment -- well, you do the math."

By Jimmy Hancock

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