MIDDLETON, Idaho (KBOI) - The Middleton mayor says you may be breaking the law when you wash your car in your driveway. That's what happened to one Middleton man who was told to stop washing his car or face fines. Shawn Alexander said, "At first I thought it was a joke. I mean I have never heard such a thing."Alexander had taken his Jeep out four wheeling and washed it in his driveway. He sprayed down the engine and the body. He says two Middleton city employees warned him that he was breaking a federal law by letting dirt run down the street.
"It seems to be a very small minor thing that they made a huge ordeal out of. Every single person that I've talked to has at least once washed their vehicle in their driveway," Alexander said.
He says the city workers warning didn't bother him, but it was the fact they didn't stop a much bigger problem going on in front of his house. He says he noticed construction workers on his street washing dirt and sediment down the drain right after they warned him about washing his Jeep.
Middleton's mayor said that was news to him. "It's the first I've heard, that is certainly illegal and contrary to the city's ordinances. Like I said we will look into that," Mayor Darin Taylor said.
Although the storm drain covers were not laid down when Alexander got the warning, the city says they are now. The mayor says he's been reminding Middleton residents about storm drain pollutants since he was elected.
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