To meet federal and state water quality requirements local governments are called to conduct various monitoring. Lexington city leaders earlier this week got a briefing on the so-called MS4 report.
The MS4 report to a Council committee could be labeled the City’s approach to stormwater pollution control. Greg Lubeck in Water Quality told members that enforcement actions at construction sites include stop-work orders, permanent blocks, and criminal prosecution.
“It’s a progressive discipline kind of thing where if you keep messing up we’re just gonna keep getting harder and harder and harder on you,” said Lubeck.
Lubeck said there have been some permanent block orders. Another part of the program involves using volunteers to check on stream quality. And Lubeck said the Lexington office will be asking the State before January to approve a different stream sampling method.
Division of Water Quality Director Charlie Martin said waterways are, quote, “holding steady,”
“It’s very hard in an urban setting to try to get your creeks to act like they are in a rural or mountainous area or what have you. You know we all saw what happened with the hurricanes and stuff like that,” said Martin.
Martin noted it’s important to monitor areas during periods of construction and post-construction. The water quality director added after construction is completed there can be issues related to trash, grass clippings, and fertilizers. Greg Lubeck told panel members in 2023, there were more than 12 thousand inspections conducted.
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