Sunday, June 14, 2015

No Dumping

Today: a cautionary tale.
Don't dump.
We're heading into the Old Port Festival later this morning, and we're certain to pass a few of these walking the streets. I think the words of caution are meant more for businesses nearby then the stray contents of my soda bottle though. Most cities, towns and other locals all contain some dirty little secrets, and 'Forest City' is no different. Going back to days before my youth, it was common practice that raw sewage was dumped into Back Bay. I mean everything! Can you imagine next to one of the most scenic drives in the city along Baxter Boulevard, raw sewage! Dad told me once everything you could image and more was deposited in there. EVERYTHING! Yes, that too. Many years back this practice was aborted, and a sewage system was installed. Our house on Coyle Street overlooked the Bay, and their were mornings heading off to high school that were just... Whew! And once in college a friend visited in summer. He had never 'experienced' the ocean. He stayed overnight at the house and commented the next morning on the strong odor emanating from the water. The tide was out, but it was a fact of life to me living so close to the water. By this time of course, it was not sewage but just the common aroma of tidal pool actions and reactions at low tide.
Life along the water.
Get used to it.
So if you are visiting this summer, don't panic.
It's not what you think.
It's low tide.
Strong olfactory nerves needed.
At times.

24 comments:

  1. Thank goodness for sewage systems!! Talked to some diners next to us in a restaurant last night. They just returned from Southwest Harbor and sang praises of their experience and Maine. Perhaps that's an option for us after the high season ends. What is September like in Maine?? Our group to Ireland left without us this morning. So sad!!

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    1. Septembers can be warm. Maybe 70s-80s? September days can be cool. Bring you sweater. Evenings for sure.

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  2. :) i used to cross a lake from our former home into dallas. certain times of the summer, whew! the smell of ripe fish and seaweed!

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  3. ha. The kids from my school stenciled those!! It was part of a learning expedition!

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  4. Almost the same story here, slightly better now... OK, much better now!

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  5. These stencils are mostly about consciousness raising about what does into street sewers. London had the first modern sewer system in the mid 19th Century. Still in use today! Amazing that shoreline towns didn't invest in sewer systems until the last half of the 20th Century. Interesting post.

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  6. Growing up on the Mississippi River, I experienced a few aromas that were not of the pleasant kind. After the flooding season it was particularly bad.

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  7. Yep, low tide certainly can smell like "something els." ;)

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  8. Oh, we've got notices on every storm drain about how the water flows eventually into the Chesapeake Bay.

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  9. You see fish stencils by many storm drains here too. At least some things have improved and raw sewage is no longer dumped into bodies of water!

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  10. There are, I'm told, businesses which continue to pollute the Atlantic coastal beaches of Florida. A bigger problem here, though, is the sea rising due to climate change, so salt water intrudes on fresh water supplies.

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  11. Lived next to the Mississippi for several years....not always pleasant smelling. Water life....it is what it is.

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  12. But it's got to be better now, isn't it. You see a few "drains to river" signs around here. The condition of the Mississippi has come way back.

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  13. So, I am really confused. Do the drains still empty into the harbor or don't they? By now I thought nearly all cities had been pushed by the EPA to install drains leading to treatment centers before emptying the effluent into the ocean.

    And, Miss Porter's is one of the fanciest (and perhaps one of the best) prep schools for girls. Graduates in addition to Jackie Kennedy Onassis include a slew of Bushes and Kennedies and other Social Register names.

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  14. Oh yes, and our politicians here in Oklahoma are saying we need to roll back our environmental laws because they cost too much. I say we need to roll them forward some more.

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  15. Not something you see in the desert.

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  16. Know exactly what you mean Birdman, I live by the coast :)

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  17. Know exactly what you mean Birdman, I live by the coast :)

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  18. I see all kinds of garbage in our small streams here, beer cans and bottles, old ice chests, styrofoam cups. It makes me sick! Not on my land you don't!

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  19. And yet there are politicians out there who act like environmental regulations are a nuisance.

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