Community Developments

Spring is finally here and it brings us warmer weather and sunshine-filled days. It also lures many of us outside to start our annual lawn care rituals to make them look green, healthy, neat, and tidy. 

While we are eagerly cutting, pruning, fertilizing, and clipping to create that beautiful curb appeal, we often do not realize that our landscaping activities can be detrimental to the very environment that we are trying to beautify! The improper handling of grass clippings, yard wastes, leaves, limbs, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides often causes pollutants to end up in our stormwater system, where they travel straight to and are openly discharged into nearby receiving waters.

One of the most common mistakes we make is to blow leaves and grass clippings into the street, storm drain inlets, or drainage ditches. Though it may seem insignificant, these activities not only pollute waterways by adding extra nutrients, they also block drainage inlets and ditches, leading to or exasperating street flooding. The underground storm drainage pipes and drainage ditches are designed for one thing and one thing only: to carry stormwater.

Most localities across the Commonwealth have codes that make dumping, blowing, or washing anything into the storm drainage system (which includes roads, curb and gutter, pipes, inlets, and ditches) a crime. 

In Roanoke County, an open discharge of most any substance onto the ground or into any facet of the drainage system is considered an illicit discharge, because it has the potential to pollute the drainage system and the area’s receiving waters. A violation of the Illicit Discharge Ordinance may result in being charged with a Class I misdemeanor or a fine, up to $2,500 per violation per day, pursuant to Section 24-5 of the Ordinance. The same penalties apply to the open disposal of motor oil or other hazardous wastes. 

View the County’s Illicit Discharge Ordinance.

So, the next time you get working in your yard, please take the time to rake, sweep, and bag your leaves and lawn clippings. Once collected, you should put them out with your regular trash or use them in a compost pile. Another good option for grass clippings is to use a mulch mower. The clippings are cut into small pieces and left on the lawn, naturally decomposing and returning nitrogen back into the soil. This may help you save money on fertilizer, too.