Show Us The Harm That Justifies Anger

Steve Hasson, county commissioner man, walk over to your kitchen sink, turn on the faucet and fill up a glass with drinking water.

Take a big sip. Settle down.

That water you are drinking, that clean, pure, good-tasting water, comes from the Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. The nasty things that people dump into storm drains can end up in the Spokane River and that can endanger the aquifer, because the river and the aquifer exchange water in several places.

You might not have known the relationship between storm drains and rivers, streams and aquifers. Many people don’t. Communities like Walla Walla and Missoula post warnings around the drains, warnings with fish painted on them, warnings that say: “Dump No Waste. Drains to Stream.”

It’s called education. And education is what James McCoy, 16, was trying to do when he painted similar signs on storm drains in the Spokane Valley. He had permission from the county Utilities Department. He was working for his Eagle Scout patch and he supervised six other Scouts in painting the 212 signs last week.

Remember, McCoy is 16. He could have been drinking, smoking, doing drugs, pouting, torturing his parents, playing loud music in his room for hours, hanging out in downtown Spokane and sneering at adults.

Instead, he worked for the public good. You didn’t thank him, Steve. Didn’t give him an honor, praise him, hold him up as an example of youth gone good. No, you got angry. Threw a big fit. What message does that send?

In this furor, we hope no one forgets McCoy and his fellow Scouts. We’ll never know how many people, walking over to the drains with motor oil to dump, will see the signs and stop themselves.

And this will help save the river. And help keep our water clean.

Thank you, James McCoy and Troop 419.