Industrial Strength Waymarking

Today we found ourselves back in industrial Tacoma, waymarking the mouth of the Puyallup River for the River Origins, Confluences and Destinations category. Now THIS is the Tacoma I remember from childhood. None of the beautiful museums and the active arts community. No, what I remember is the stink - what was fondly called the "aroma of Tacoma." These days the smell isn't nearly as pervasive with EPA regulation of the paper mills, but if you wander down Portland Ave to the heart of Super Fund Central the stink is still alive and kickin'. After taking some pictures of the dismal destination of the Puyallup River and jumping back in the car, my husband asks me, "Ughh, did you step in shit!". And, honestly I had to check, because it's hard to tell the difference between the smell of industrial Tacoma and a steaming heap of dog poo. There are so many Super Fund sites that I haven't even bothered trying to waymark them. It's too hard to figure out where one ends and another begins.

The day was dismal - a steady rain pouring from steely skies - but the weather tied in well with the gray stinky spot we waymarked. Why waymark such a disgusting spot, you ask? Well, herein lies one of waymarking's greatnesses. It isn't just about fun and pretty locations - it's also about informative locations that make you think, and sometimes informative isn't pretty. The Puyallup River waymark highlights what can become of a glacier fed river when the environment isn't protected.

Commencement Bay on the Puget Sound is ringed by EPA Super Fund clean up sites, and right into the middle of these toxic tide flats flows the Puyallup River. The Puyallup is fed from glaciers on Mt. Rainier and has a fall run of Chinook salmon. Coho, chum, and pink salmon are also found in the river, along with steelhead, sea-run cutthroat trout, and a threatened species of bull trout. Sockeye salmon are traditionally indigenous to the basin. Look at the picture - do you really want that salmon on your dinner plate to have swum through a Super Fund site? It may have done just that.

I posted in 6 new categories this week: TV Stations, River Origins et al, Nature Centers, Ice Skating Rinks, Lighthouse B&B's, and Publicly Held Corporate Headquarters. Okay, I'd better sign off and go grab my decon box. I'll be back to talk at you in a few days.