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, John Beal (1950-2006) steers his boat down the Duwamish Waterway and its tributary, Hamm Creek, near his South Park neighborhood. Once told he had six months to live, Mr. Beal created I'M A PAL Foundation (International Marine Association Protecting Aquatic Live) and spent the next 27 years slowly transforming trash-filled and polluted waters into a healthy, functioning habitat for wildlife and people. His work continues through groups like Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS), the Duwamish Alive Coalition, and the People for Puget Sound.
Caption by Seattle Post-Intelligencer staff. Photograph published with article: " Environmental project was Rx for man at death's door" By Lisa Stiffler and Robert McClure, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 22, 2002, p. 11.. Caption information source: Beal, John (1950-2006) by Stephen Miller, HistoryLink.org Essay 20578.
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.CD01.015, photo by Paul Joseph Brown
