Sediment reduces the amount of light penetrating the water, depriving the plants of light needed for photosynthesis. Soil also carries with it other pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and excess nutrients that are spread by the action of the water, causing problems not only at the source but also downstream. Another adverse impact of sediment pollution is the siltation of streams and rivers. Siltation may necessitate the dredging of a shipping channel. Origins of Sediment Pollution There has always been a certain among of soil erosion that occurs naturally, and except along the shoreline, is generally similar to the amount of sediment that washes off a woodland.
Major problems occur only when large amounts of sediment enter our waterways.
The typical construction site erodes at a rate of up to 100,000 tons per square mile per year. This rate is 200 times greater than erosion from cropland and 2000 times greater than erosion from woodland. How Sediment Pollution is Controlled Because of the many problems associated with soil washed from construction sites, Pennsylvania's Environmental Quality Board approved statewide regulations for erosion and sediment control in September of 1972. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission have the authority to enforce the Clean Streams Law and Fish and Boat Code. The Chapter 102 Erosion Control regulations require all builders of roads and other construction projects to use various methods to control the amount of sediment leaving the site of their project.