I enjoyed your November issue and the article "Thornton Creek in the shadow of Northgate Mall." I would like to thank all the people who give up their weekends and work on Thornton Creek.

I only have one problem and that is why the City does not install stormwater filters to remove the pollution. Stormwater runoff is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is federal and is delegated to the Department of Ecology (DOE), which is state level.

The problem is the DOE doesn't do its job by enforcing the "clean water act" or the NPDES, which are both stormwater regulations. It seems like nobody in government is accountable for their jobs.

The county and city level of government do a lot of studies on stormwater and the thing they can come up with is that development and more cars are sending more pollutants into our waterways.

The projects at North Seattle Community College and Northgate are major contributors of sediments into Thornton Creek. These sediments are covering the gravel needed by salmon to spawn and the oils and greases in stormwater are threatening not only the salmon but everything around Thornton Creek.

I think it's about time the City step up to the plate and hit a grand slam by installing stormwater filters using the Thornton Creek watershed as a testing area.

We need to implement a solution to save the salmon and this is it. We all filter our own drinking water so let's filter the water for the salmon and help out those people who put in many long hours restoring Thornton Creek.

- CHRIS PROBST,
owner of Enviro-Drain Inc., Snohomish