Simple Scout project is big preventive measure
Published 10:58 am Thursday, October 24, 2013
Nate Krueger gets adhesive put on the back of a tag to put on a storm sewer drain. Krueger and local Boy Scouts applied the markers at several locations to prevent people from dumping waste and leaves down the drains. — Photo Provided
Local Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts during the past weeks took more simple steps to protect local waters before people potentially pollute them.
Girl Scouts from Troop 40044 and Boy Scouts from several area troops put friendly reminders on storm sewer drains around Austin. All told, the scouts tacked 57 markers that read “No Dumping, Drains to River.” The markers are in the area of Seventh and Eighth Avenues Northwest and 15th Street, 17th Street and Third Avenue Southwest. The city of Austin provided the markers.
Girl Scouts from Austin helped with the storm sewer awareness project on Oct. 10 as part of Community Cleanup for Water Quality. –Photo provided
The Girl Scouts completed their project as part of Community Cleanup for Water Quality on Oct. 10. The Boy Scouts, on Oct. 19, completed their portion as a project to benefit the community.
The markers remind the public not to dump things down the storm drains. Waste oil, automotive antifreeze, and harmful materials are sometimes dumped down storm drains.
Furthermore, city ordinance prohibits people from raking leaves into the streets and down storm drains. Leaves can wash into the streams and raise phosphorus levels, leading to excess algae growth.
