NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM

REPORTING ILLICIT DISCHARGES

In order to comply with the requirements of the  National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, Lee County must establish regulations that will prohibit illicit discharges into the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) and provide sufficient means to monitor and enforce local discharge regulations. With this purpose,  Ordinance 98-11 was adopted in June, 1998 providing legal authority to prohibit any illicit, inappropriate or harmful discharges into the MS4 or waters of Lee County that could cause environmental problems that cost the public and private sectors in terms of lost resources and expensive environmental restoration activities.

Illicit discharge or illicit stormwater discharge means any discharge into the Lee County MS4 and/or waters of the United States that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except discharges made in accordance with a county issued development order consistent with the Lee County MS4 permit, an independent NPDES permit, as a result of fire fighting activities or otherwise specifically exempted under LCDC 14-474.   

Many seemly harmless household activities, such as dumping yard waste or draining swimming pools and household waste water from washing machines, dishwashers or water softening devices into ditches, storm drains and canals are also classified as illicit discharges.  Theses activities still can cause severe problems to our waterways.  Ditches and storm drains are not connected to the sewer system.  They flow directly into streams, rivers, estuaries, bays and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.

If  you see any polluting activities taking place, please report by clicking in the corresponding agency below for your area:

Public Information   Report Illicit Discharges   Web Links