Paul K. Anderson
Photographer and Riverkeeper supporter, Paul K. Anderson.
I grew up in Iowa near the Mississippi River, commonly referred to as: the Father of Waters, the Big Muddy, the Mighty Miss, Ol Man River, the Gathering of Waters, Old Blue (Huh? That must have been further upstream.).
What I learned at an early age was that my town pumped lots of water from the sewage treatment plant directly into the river near Credit Island; that lots of old men fished for carp, buffalo fish, and catfish right there; and that I was pretty content that the city engineers knew what they were doing because the town water treatment plant intake was located upstream of the sewage plant outfall.
Content, that is, until I looked at the wall map at school and read the names of Moline, Bettendorf, LeClaire, Clinton, Dubuque, LaCrosse, St. Paul, Minneapolis - all cities upstream, all with sewage plants, all potentially dumping wastes into the river where I got my drinking water.
We had a creek running through town, named after a bird once spotted near it.
Duck Creek was a favorite stomping grounds for those of us that liked adventure. During summer thunderstorms we would pull out our well hidden, newly constructed, Huck Finn-style raft to float down the flooded waters to the confluence with Old Blue. I did this on multiple occasions, over numerous summers, until during one particularly heavy flood I passed the new pumping station and saw storm waters and raw sewage coming out of an outfall pipe.
The next day I grabbed a quart jar my grandmother used, went to the outfall "pool" and examined the water sample. Hundreds of tiny strands and tufts of toilet paper slowly drifted around inside grandma's pickle jar. I set it up on the side girder of the railroad bridge and photographed it backlit in the sun.
It would become my first published photo.
A Great Blue Heron feeds in the shallows of the Nooksack Delta near Bellingham, Washington. Mt.Baker "my mountain" is a major source of water throughout the spring, summer and fall for the Nooksack. By Paul K. Anderson.
Today I live near a much smaller watershed - the Nooksack. The Nooksack is fed from glacial ice melt and the snowpacks high in the mountains of the North Cascades. Icy Peak, Baker, Shuksan, Twin Sisters all nurture my river. These waters flow cleaner than the Mississippi or Duck Creek, of course, but there are still many problems: dairy farms, small industry, road and parking lot drainage, septic system problems, fertilizer and chemical runoff from neighborhoods, new housing developments and gentlemen farms.
But I feel good, hopeful, because I know who my local Baykeeper/Riverkeeper neighbors are-- they are friends and they work hard, and I like helping them. So I guess my suggestion is that everyone should get to know, fund, and help your local Water or Bay or Riverkeeper. It's better than having that inquisitive child of yours investigating things that we should already be doing for them; and you, the kid, and grandpa won't ever have to wonder about that jar of pickles grandma just set down in front of you.
Paul K. Anderson is featured in our May River Communities Update as our 'Volunteer of the Month'. Paul is an active volunteer in our campaign against coal export on the Columbia and helps us to educate the public on the issue by generously donating his amazing photographic skills. Paul's photos of coal trains, coal dust, and coal mines have played an integral role in our ability to spread the word about coal export in the Pacific Northwest. Check out Paul's photos from this month's rally and view more of his work on www.coaltrainfacts.org and www.paulkanderson.com. We sincerely appreciate the continued support of volunteers like Paul-- sharing their skills, passion, and energy to help us achieve clean water for all! Thanks, Paul, for sharing your story.
