The Girl Scouts of Troop 21 in Cobb County do good deeds. In recent months the troop, from the Mableton-Austell area, began placing disc-shaped markers on county storm drains to caution against dumping waste.
The storm drain markers are provided by the Cobb County Watershed Stewardship Program and contain the image of a frog circled with the words, “No Dumping, Drains to Creek.” The emblems are about the size of a coaster. I first noticed the discs in the Indian Hills subdivision on top of the drains along Creekwood and Greenfield drives.
The watershed program expects to conduct yearly placement of the discs on a targeted date, and will rely on smaller groups of volunteers. The program’s representative for this effort is Vicki Culbreth. But at the time the Scouts placed the markers, the program’s representative was Emily Toriani-Moura.
I had always thought rainwater runoff drained into the sewage system and was treated for later drinkable use, or treated and then discharged into the river. Toriani-Moura said she used to think the same thing, and it’s a common misconception.
Most rainwater that doesn’t soak into the ground is swept up by the storm drains and can act as a conduit for pollutants, such as motor oil, fertilizer, metals, detergent, pet waste and other items harmful to creeks and rivers. Grass clippings if dumped into a storm drain can not only clog the drain but harm a stream with a process known as eurtrification, which results in less oxygen available for aquatic life.
By my count, Cobb is host to 21 creeks or creek basins. Many of these streams flow into the Chattahoochee River or area lakes. Unfortunately, many of our streams are susceptible to contamination from storm drains because of dumping caused by a lack of education.
The Troop 21 scouts placed 253 of the discs out of the 825 already placed by other volunteers at various times. Last February, the troop was recognized by the county as the Storm Drain Marking Volunteers of the Year.
During walks with my dogs past Indian Hills Country Club, I read and heed the warning sign near the street where it meets the cart path. The sign says, “Private Property ... no trespassing, jogging, dog walking, dumping, riding bicycles, etc.” I’ve never seen violations of this sort on the golf course because most of us respect private property.
We should do as well to respect our public streams, creeks and rivers by not dumping waste into the storm drains. Many thanks to Troop 21 and to the Cobb County Watershed Stewardship Program for their efforts.
Craig Allen of Marietta has lived in Cobb County for eight years.
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