F
24

My local creek in Springfield went from a muddy ditch to clear water in just 2 years.

Some neighbors say the city's new storm drain filters did it, but others think it's because the old factory upstream finally closed. Which side do you think is right?
4 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
4 Comments
max_brown
max_brown2mo agoTop Commenter
Yeah, I always blamed the factory, but that study makes a lot of sense.
4
annajenkins
Could be both! I saw a study where cleaner water upstream let the natural filters in the creek bed actually start working again.
1
nancyjones
nancyjones2mo ago
I drove past the old Miller plant on Route 9 for years and that water was always rust-colored. Max_brown is right to blame the factory. My money's on the closure doing most of the work. We had a similar thing happen back home where a farm stopped using certain chemicals and the pond cleared up in about eighteen months. Once you stop adding new gunk, nature can catch up and clean itself.
1
davidkim
davidkim1mo ago
Totally agree with nancyjones about nature catching up. You stop the pollution at the source, the system can finally breathe. It's like when you stop dumping trash in a ditch, the rain eventually washes it clean. That old plant was the constant problem, so closing it was the fix. The creek just needed a break from the daily gunk.
6