Given no update at this time on the diesel fuel spill in our community canal, here's some suggested reading on the clean water act and what every resident and community partner can do to be part of the solution.
According to Louisiana Land CAN [Conservation Assistance Network] The State of "Louisiana determined that agriculture, forestry, urban runoff, home sewage systems, sand and gravel mining, construction and hydromodification all contribute to nonpoint source pollution problems across the state. Nonpoint source pollution is the largest remaining type of water pollution that needs to be addressed within Louisiana and across the nation in order to restore the designated uses (i.e. fishing and swimming) to the impaired water bodies."
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/docs/cwt/guidance/112a1.pdf
The June 2022 discovery of diesel in our community's canals should give us all pause to consider how fuel and motor oil and other chemicals migrate into the surrounding wetlands, not only from industrial facilities but also from our residential driveways and local businesses. Rain waters carry chemicals from facilities and driveways alike into the wetlands via storm water canals. The canals are discharged into the sensitive estuaries of the central wetlands, including Bayou Bienvenue.
According to LDEQ, just one gallon of motor oil from the change of a vehicle will pollute a million gallons of water. Let's all do our part to be part of the solution and not dump wastes into municipal storm drains and storm water canals.
