We used to flush all kinds of things into the gutters of the street, headed for the storm drains.
And even though a few lessons have been learned (and a few fish stencils have been painted on storm drains), lots of unhealthy substances end up in the drains. They're not sewers; there's no treatment of the water between drain and street.
And a recent study shows that the dirty water not only makes life unpleasant for fish, it changes them. Fish can grow up differently--and not better--when exposed to storm drain runoff. Jenifer McIntyre and Allison Coffin were among the authors; they visit with highlights.
