March 12, 2002

12:39 PM

Good news on the pollution front. Town in Northern California finds a way to turn its sewage into non-polluting water and make a wildlife refuge. If you live in Arcata, you can flush your toilet with pride! Quick overview here or the full flush.
posted by keithl (8 comments total)

Let's hear it for the home of the Arcata Eye! Best police log ever! That sounds like a cool place to live.
posted by ColdChef at 12:51 PM on March 12, 2002

Marsh official site and Marsh history page.
posted by fleener at 1:14 PM on March 12, 2002

it is a cool place to live! here's another good link from the EPA about the marsh.

and not to sidetrack the thread, but check out the plaza cam if you're interested in possibly catching a glimpse of some of that "tie-dyed, ponytailed bastion of ’60s idealism" mentioned in the abcnews article.
posted by modge at 1:19 PM on March 12, 2002

Modge, that cam isn't helpful unless you're inhaling a toxic combination of patchouli and BO while listening to painfully bad bongo players. Only then can you get a true sense of what the plaza is like.

As far as the marsh goes, it's such a simple and beautiful solution that I have always wondered why more people hadn't heard of it (or even demanded it)
posted by stefanie at 3:12 PM on March 12, 2002

fair enough (sounds like you've been), although at times you might be lucky enough to see someone holding up a sign that says "Big Brother is alive and living on the Arcata Plaza!". there's no shortage of conspiracy theorists in arcata.

strangely, the article seems to be from 1999 so i'm not sure how this is really 'news', and i'm pretty sure the marsh has had national exposure well before then. still, i'm always glad to see a 'local interest' story on mefi, and it really is a beautiful place to hang out; in fact my brother and his wife were married there many years ago.
posted by modge at 3:48 PM on March 12, 2002

The marsh is indeed an awesome sight, and a national treasure. As far back as the late 1980's, I remember a piece in the NY Times about it. It has been a model of wastewater treatment ever since it's completion, and many communities world wide have shown flattery through imitation.
The Plaza on the other hand, once a great place to stretch out with a Hole-In-The-Wall sandwich and a brew and enjoy the sights and sounds of Arcata, has degraded, both through the influx of bums and the attendant attempts to control them (i.e. cameras, laws restricting open containers). It's still a great place for the yearly festivals: Fourth of July, North Country Fair and the Oyster Festival to name a few, not to mention the weekly Farmers Market) but the day to day ambience leaves much to be desired. Arcata used to be a truly liberal bastion. It was presumed members of the public had the mental wherewithal to control themselves, and you could stroll down the streets with a beer in hand. Alas, no longer.
posted by gnz2001 at 4:42 PM on March 12, 2002

the full flush.

the turd's eye view :)
posted by kliuless at 8:04 PM on March 12, 2002

Thanks kliuless!
posted by keithl at 10:26 PM on March 12, 2002