Pierce County teams with cities on "Puget Sound Starts Here" campaign
By Ben Sclair
The Suburban Times
October 15, 2009

Every day, an estimated 140,000 pounds of toxic chemicals are carried by streams and rivers into Puget Sound. It’s not coming from some illegal dumper or large manufacturing plant, but in small increments from thousands of ordinary households and populated urban areas.

Pierce County and the cities of Tacoma, Puyallup, Gig Harbor and Lakewood are among a coalition of more than 300 organizations that are part of Puget Sound Starts Here, a public education campaign aimed at helping people curb their contributions to the daily flow of pollution.

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State's Puget Sound Partnership Launches Education Campaign
By Christopher Dunagan
Kitsap Sun
September 16, 2009

“Puget Sound Starts Here” is the title for an educational campaign launched Wednesday by the Puget Sound Partnership in concert with more than 300 organizations, businesses and public agencies.

“What we’re trying to do is take a complicated issue and show simple actions that will keep Puget Sound clean,” said Paul Bergman, communications director for the partnership.

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City ordinances could change the way you wash your car
By Josh Peterson
KVEWTV
September 3, 2009

For months, we've been hearing that new storm water drain regulations throughout Washington could change the way you wash you car.Now, those regulations are in effect.

Regulations don't say you're not allowed to wash your car in your driveway, but if you clean your car at home, you may need to do it a little differently.

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Puyallup adopts increased water quality standards
By Neil Pierson
The News Tribune
August 19, 2009

To meet increasingly stringent state and national standards for water quality, the city of Puyallup is moving in tandem with a regional plan to educate the public on the dangers of home car washing.

The Puyallup City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Aug. 11 adopting new anti-pollution standards for its stormwater system, known as illegal discharge detection and elimination regulations. The standards are mandated by the state Department of Ecology (DOE) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), meaning the city could have been at risk for financial penalties had the ordinance not passed prior to Aug. 15.

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Going green at the carwash
By Debbie Abby
The News Tribune
August 10, 2009

If you’re a fish, here’s an all-too-familiar summertime scene of horror: Humans sudsing up their cars on a steaming parking lot as toxic rivulets of soapy water, engine oil and grime gush down storm drains.

Soap compounds coat gills making it tough for fish to take in air, and more susceptible to the perils of petroleum and pesticides.

That’s why environmental educators with local governments are reminding car owners to use fish-friendly methods to wash their vehicles this summer:

Go to a commercial carwash. Wash cars on grass or gravel. Support a carwash fundraiser with environmentally sound water disposal.

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Car wash pollution and the numbers to prove it
By JACINDA HOWARD
Federal Way Mirror Reporter
July 30, 2009

For years, environmentalists have told the public that washing their cars in the driveway is detrimental to local waterways.

Federal Way city staff now have the numbers to prove it, thanks to a recent study conducted by the Surface Water Management Division.

The Residential Car Washwater Monitoring Study, published in July 2009, was completed as a way to educate the public about stormwater pollution. In 2007, the state's Department of Ecology (DOE) issued the Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit.

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RESIDENTIAL CAR WASHWATER MONITORING STUDY
City of Federal Way, Public Works Department Surface Water Management Division
July, 2009

To better understand the nature of urban stormwater discharges to the City of Federal Way Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), the Water Quality section of the Surface Water Management (SWM) Division of Public Works embarked on a small study to illustrate the links between car washing, stormwater, local surface waters, and Puget Sound.

The study is posted on their website. See the "Quick Links" box on the right-hand side.




Puget Sound Storm Water Run Off Pollution
PSCWA
Press Release from April 2009