Take a dump... in the creek

According to TV3, the City of Staunton is dumping piles and piles of snow into Lewis Creek. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is their attitude, I guess. Clear the streets, water quality be damned. Other cities and towns have similar "solutions" to snow removal.

In Beijing, we saw citizens popping off manhole covers and dumping snow into sewers and drains. But, that is China.

Is this a responsible way to dispose of way too much snow. Hell NO! The roads were treated with salts and other chemicals just before the snowstorm. Add in all the oils and other pollutants that regularly coat city streets. Now we have a toxic brew being dumped directly into Lewis Creek.

I know that Valley snowmelt will eventually end up in Lewis Creek and other streams and creeks. Diluted, it will make its way into South, North, and Middle Rivers and from there into the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. But, snowmelt dumped on fields (even on parking lots) will at least have some soil filtration, some dilution, some time-lag... before being introduced into our streams and rivers. While it is easy to understand why the City of Staunton is looking to take a quick dump - understand this - it is irresponsible to put chemical-laced street scrapings directly into waterways of the Commonwealth. Shame on the Queen City. How dare you city slickers criticize farmers for livestock runoff - take a long look in the mirror!