
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991                   TAG: 9103100251
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

PUBLIC STREETS BIG POLLUTERS

When it comes to polluting waterways, public streets and parking lots can be a greater problem than factories or sewage treatment plants, says a study by an environmental group.

"This is a whole additional source of pollution that has been ignored," Diane Cameron, environmental engineer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Wednesday.

Pollution that gets into waterways from stormwater comes from oil-soaked parking lots and vehicle exhausts. Pollutants include oil, grease, paint and lawn fertilizer.

According to the council, the amount of lead from auto exhausts and paint in Hampton Roads stormwater was 10 times higher last year than in discharges by eight regional sewage treatment plants. It was 20 times greater than in wastewater from all major Virginia factories.

by CNB