We've often wondered how local streamkeepers, or environmental advocates of any stripe, can keep up the good fight when the odds often appear stacked against them.
Mark Angelo and scores of other folks lobbied hard and physically waded into Still Creek to nurse it back to life over many years. They pulled old tires out of the muck, planted spindly trees and watched scores of wide-eyed school children gently release wriggly little salmon fry into the creek. Those efforts paid dividends. Finally, salmon have come back to spawn in the urban creek. It's a wondrous thing to see salmon fighting their way back to create another cycle of salmon.
And then some dumb or deliberate ass dumps a gallon of excess paint or chemicals into the drain, because he or she can't be bothered to take it to the recycling station. One careless, lazy act can wipe out years of salmon life and years of environmental stewardship.
And, aside from the damage done to nature, there is the monetary impact. Investigators are called out, chemists must analyze the substance, and, if possible, track down the perpetrator. And then, if possible - and it rarely is - a case must be made to charge the person or persons responsible. One spill can cost taxpayers thousands of dollars even if no one is ever found responsible.
We're all for educating folks about why they shouldn't dump stuff down drains, but surely everyone knows this by now. It's time that very large rewards are given to those who can finger the culprits responsible for dumping stuff.
We're thinking a large enough price on a polluter's head might just do the trick.
