Texas Restaurant Owner Faces Stiff Fines For Washing Bird Poop Off The Sidewalk
Corpus Christi, TX – One restaurant owner is livid over an order by local officials to stop washing bird poop off the sidewalk in front of his business. Crawdaddy’s General Manager John Webb told KRIS-TV that if he does not stop spraying the avian droppings with water, he will be slapped with a $2,000 per day fine. The Texas eatery owner has been cleaning off the sidewalk in the same manner for 18 years.
A Corpus Christi laws bars everyone from washing pollutants into the storm drain system, which leads out to the bay. City officials noted the ordinance is based on state standards and similar statutes in other cities. The logic behind the law is questionable since the same officials reportedly told the local television station that rainwater washing bird waste into the same storm drain system is just fine.
John Webb had this to say about the messy problem:
“If I can’t wash my sidewalk off what am I supposed to do? I’m at a loss at how to clean this up. Now I’m stuck with having dirty sidewalks and this bird poop. It’s nasty. It just seems kinda foolish that rain washing it off is a natural occurrence, but a water hose washing it off is a pollutant. It just really doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Local leaders suggest proprietors use a vacuum to clean the mess off the sidewalks or hire a professional cleaner to remove the waste, according to The Blaze. Avian droppings flushed into storm sewer drains can harm those with weakened immune systems when they come into contact with the matter while swimming in waterways, according to health department information published by the Alpena News.
