Should I report this company for polluting?

[Anonymous]

I work for a commercial cleaning company. I work at an office building. They are an internet provider. They have their own trucks and stuff. A few days ago I saw one of the employees wiping down one of the trucks out back. I went inside and came back out. And I saw soap running off into the storm drain. I heard this is bad because the soap will cause algae to bloom in the creeks and rob oxygen of fish. Should I report them for doing that? I understand they've got to wash their trucks, but they could always go and do it at the car wash in town.

[WindAtMyBack]

There is nothing to report unless you can prove they are dumping something illegal on the ground. That's highly unlikely. Some places have banned soaps and detergents with phosphate. A lot of cleaning products don't use phosphates any more anyway. Even if you live someplace that has a ban or limit of phosphates, it is a ban on the soap or detergent itself, so you can't even easily buy them.

Some heavy duty cleaning products and grease removers might still have phosphates.

[Asker]

Well I just called the non emergency number, and they said what they're doing is not illegal. Not sure what to do now.

[WindAtMyBack]

You can't do anything about it. Everyone uses soaps and detergents, including you. And like I said, the phosphates have already been removed from many products.

You can check your jurisdiction to see if they are banned or limited. Even if selling them is banned, it might still be legal to use them. Either way phosphates have been reduced enough in many places that the little remaining is not enough to cause problems.

It's also reduced or banned in fertilizers. When you see fertilizers at the store there will be three numbers, like 30-10-20 or 20-0-20. The middle number is phosphorus. So the first example is 20% phosphorus and the second example has no phosphorus. It's become far more common to see a zero as the second number. Phosphorus is a good fertilizer, which is why it causes a lot of algae to grow in the water. It's completely natural but too much can cause problems.

[Redstang88]

Nothing illegal about washing soap down the drain. Where do you think it goes from the car wash?

[Anonymous]

It depends on how much you like your job or possibly any job

If you're seen as being in the wrong and get a reputation then you might find people won't hire you as a security measure