Cleaning up the Storm Water

            The Greeley city council passed an ordinance that better defined their storm water programs. This ordinance better defined the code and clarified what kind of waste cannot come out of the water detention ponds.

            The main point of the ordinance is to get the permit holders up to code with the EPA in case they get audited.

            “Over 300 detention ponds in the city of Greeley. This is to help maintain all of them,” John Hemesath, public works director, said.

            The ordinance clearly defines the enforcement actions for a storm water detention pond that is not up to code. It also defines how to go about correcting these problems that are discovered.

            “Soil being washed in the streets or when its dry the dirt blowing in the air,” Hemesath said.  These are the biggest problems with the storm sewers and how they become polluted.

            In order to fix these problems fines will be assessed to the permit holders whose detention ponds do not meet code. A municipal judge will be doing the administrative hearings about all fines that will be assessed.

            The ordinance gives the permit holders until October 15, 2012 to update their ponds in order to comply with the new ordinance.