Stormwater can lead to stream bank erosion, loss of flood control and health implications.

Unfortunately, the earth’s natural lands are shrinking. Many forests and streams have become parking lots and residential neighborhoods over time. As a result, pollution increases and eventually makes its way into the environment, which is already made weaker by urbanization and polluting industries.

That pollution makes its way into the environment through stormwater runoff. Consisting of trash, toxins, animal waste and other dangerous compounds, stormwater runoff turns pollution into a literal river of waste. 

What is Stormwater Runoff, and Why is it Bad?

Whenever it rains, the water goes somewhere. In a perfect situation, the ground absorbs the rainfall, filters it and directs it back to the water supply. 

However, the situation is far from perfect in our current world of cities, urbanization and impervious surfaces. 

When rain doesn’t absorb, it flows to the lowest point. As it does, it collects whatever is on the ground as it passes over, such as dirt, chemicals, trash and more. That rainwater is now a toxic soup, and that soup is stormwater runoff.

To put it simply, there is nothing good about stormwater runoff. Water flows down the path of least resistance. In areas without adequate drainage, stormwater will erode the ground as it flows. This has enormous implications within nature, including stream bank erosion and loss of flood control.

Stormwater runoff also introduces dangerous substances into local waterways. Many of these substances are forever chemicals. These chemicals, such as perfluorinated compounds, stay in the environment instead of breaking down. Indeed, they have a range of adverse health implications, including death.

The runoff often bypasses treatment facilities. Therefore, toxins such as these forever chemicals go straight into nature. There, it affects the animals we hunt, the vegetables we farm and the land on which we live.

This free webinar will inform attendees on the most significant updates and modifications in the new standard, known as E1527-21 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.

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