During the summer months when no leaves are on the ground watch where the leaf blowers direct the debris they stir up, it goes in one of two directions:
1. Into neighbor's yards, or,
2. Into the street where it is left.
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| Image via Santa Monica Daily Press. |
Tossing debris into your neighbor's yard is illegal - try tossing a beer can or a pet's poop over the fence and see if they like it.
Depositing debris in the street is illegal, a drain on taxpayer's money and town resources. The debris fills catch basins (storm drains) which need to be regularly cleaned to avoid overflow issues. That work and equipment doesn't come for free.
Running street sweepers and dump trucks which collect the debris on the surface is expensive and takes a toll on the machinery as well.
What happens to that debris collected from the street? It cannot go to the compost facility due to quantities of toxic material.
Note: For those who will now say "Street sweepers raise dust too!" I would point out that, according to the town, "The sweepers spray water on to the street to keep dust levels low."
I would just raise up I've seen far more catch basins filled with crap or covered over because of homeowner inaction rather than landscapers dumping piles in the street. I regularly cleaned my storm drain cover, and in many cases cleaned the ones directly uphill from me because the owner ignored it.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider street debris a serious issue, banning leaf blowers isn't going to impact it. And since dumping material on the street is already illegal, just enforce that ordinance.
Its no different than illegally blowing snow from sidewalks onto the street, a practice I suspect far more homeowners are guilty of.. and I think people would vociferously block any thought of banning personal snow removal equipment to protect the street.
Thanks for the comment Grant. The post wasn't meant to suggest that street debris clogging catch basins would cease if leaf blowers were seasonally banned. (I don't think I wrote anything to suggest that, but if I did it was in error.)
ReplyDeleteRather, my point in this post is that whether the dust kicked up by the 150-280 mph winds is directed toward neighbor's property or into the street, it is illegal and has a negative impact, health-wise and financial, on our community.