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In towns and cities throughout North Carolina, rainwater washes along
neighborhood gutters into storm drains, flowing into nearby streams, rivers,
lakes, sounds, estuaries and the ocean. Stormwater does not go to a treatment
plant. Instead, stormwater carries trash that is dumped into gutters or storm
drains directly into our waters. Every year, antifreeze, motor oil, cigarette
butts, paint, plastic and yard wastes take this path into waterways, spoiling
them for people and wildlife. By painting a "KEEP CLEAN!" stencil message on
storm drains in your community, you can alert the public that only rainwater
belongs in storm drains.
The North Carolina Storm Drain Stenciling Project was piloted in North
Carolina's coastal watershed in 1994. It was endorsed as an official education
program of "1994, Year of the Coast" and received a "Take Pride in North
Carolina Award". In addition to local support, it has been backed by the N.C.
Sea Grant College Program, the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Department of Environment, Health, and
Natural Resources, N.C. Big Sweep and the N.C. Coastal Federation. The North
Carolina Storm Drain Stenciling Project organizers plan to expand the effort
statewide in 1996 and 1997 with money from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. For more information about the North Carolina Storm Drain Stenciling
Project and the statewide effort, look below.
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