Dark stormy skies created a dramatic back drop behind Harbor Island in Seattle. A man-made island, soil from the Jackson and Dearborn Street regrades and from dredging the Duwamish river bed were used to create Harbor Island in the mouth of the Duwamish River, splitting the river mouth into two channels, the East and West waterways. In 1909 when completed it was the largest man-made island in the world covering 350 acres.
Harbor Island has always been utilized for industry, and unfortunately due to past unwise business practices of dumping or allowing waste products to spill, the island was named a Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site in 1983. The soil, ground water and surrounding waterways and the lower Duwamish River are contaminated with a plethora of heavy metals, petroleum and chemicals.
When I worked on Harbor Island from the mid 70s to the mid 90s, I knew longshoremen (and other people) who fished in the waterway off the dock. Often the fish (bottom fish mostly like Flounder) were deformed, extra eyes, guts outside their bodies, weird stuff. Personally, I wouldn’t have and didn’t eat anything caught there, but people did then and still do fish and eat from those contaminated waters.
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the contamination does not sound good, but this shot has great contrast!
You have such a good eye, Madge. This is a great shot!
A busy but very awesome shot.
A very cool shot AND interesting post. It is simply amazing what we humans do to our surroundings.
I like the contrast with the dark skies and the bright structures. This place has a dark history to go along with the sky. I am glad that they are trying to clean it up, now.
Like an alien landscape- great photo Madge.
By the way, I mean to enter Weekly Top Shot nore often but am not around so much at weekends when the linky comes out, hence my low particpation rate ;-(
http://mancunianwave.blogspot.co.uk
dramatic … back from my get-away and struggling to catch up .. hey!!!
Wow! I really like this gantry cranes shot Madge, well done!
Kinda like the fish from around the nuclear power plant in Springfield (Simpsons.)
:)
An other great shot, Madge!