Final answer:
Oil or fertilizer spilled on a residential driveway or lawn can flow into storm drains and ultimately contribute to water pollution. The statement is true.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement is true. When oil or fertilizer is spilled on a residential driveway or lawn, they can flow into the storm drains along the street. These drains are connected to the stormwater system, which eventually leads to local water bodies such as rivers, lakes, or oceans. This process is known as runoff, and it can result in water pollution.
Oil or fertilizer spilled on a residential driveway or lawn can lead to contamination of water bodies through nonpoint source pollution caused by runoff, which includes the movement of rainwater or overwatering that picks up pollutants and carries them to our waterways.
According to the interactive graphic of a typical suburban home on the Clean Water Howard website, if oil or fertilizer is spilled on a residential driveway or lawn, those chemicals can indeed head to the storm drains along the street and ultimately contaminate water bodies. This is due to runoff, which is water movement that picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water (groundwater).
Substances like oil and fertilizer become pollutants that enter water supplies through nonpoint sources of pollution. These are large and diffuse areas such as residential lawns where contaminants are washed away by rain or overwatering and can't be traced to a single discharge point. This nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water pollution in the U.S., and it can be difficult to control because it comes from many sources and actions by individuals rather than a single entity.
Preventative measures, such as reducing the use of fertilizers, using them responsibly, and immediately cleaning up spills like oil can help mitigate the effects of nonpoint source pollution and protect our water resources. Wetlands, for instance, serve an important role in filtering runoff water and help preserve water quality in our environment.