In November of 2002 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer completed a six-month investigation into the ecological health of the Puget Sound. They published their findings in a series of articles from November 18-22, outlining the ways in which recent efforts to curtail dumping and pollution had failed to negate decades of human-caused damage to sea life and the marine environment.
In this image, Brownies and Cub Scouts admire their handiwork after stenciling a storm drain in Bellevue with "Dump No Waste, Drains to Stream." Chemicals hazardous to the marine ecosystem, such as pesticides, paints, and used motor oil dumbed into storm drains, are carried into the nearest body of water. At the time, there were 16,660 public storm drains in Bellevue.
Caption by Seattle Post-Intelligencer staff. Photograph published with article: "When it rains, it pours pollutants into the waters: by Margaret Taus and Robert McClure, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 20, 2002, pp. 1, 8-9.
Additional Information: Metadata created as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.20021101.CD01.012, photo by Paul Joseph Brown
