Energy Corps Member Leah Saffian, serving at the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District in Fayetville, Arkansas was recently selected as one of the local artists for the Upstream Art Project. Leah’s Storm Drain Art project has been spotlighted in a variety of area media outlets including local NPR affiliate KUAF’s “Ozarks at Large” radio show, KSFM Channel 5 and local newspapers.
Congratulations and keep up the good work!
The storm drain project was created to address non-point source pollution, which is explained in this excerpt from the interview;
“Non-point source pollution is the number one pollutant source in the United States and that is when storm water that is carried over our streets and sidewalk surfaces is ran into storm drains and it carries with that pollutants such as chemicals, oils, greases, fertilizers, grass clippings, and a big one is pet waste. Excess nutrients and bacteria from pet waste enter storm drains and all of that goes untreated into our water ways – our creeks, our streams, our lakes- and eventually into the ocean. Many people look at storm drains and think that it actually gets treated and that’s not true.”
Storm Drain Art Project ( from the Fayetteville Flyer)
