When I was a child we used to go to a creek in Washington Park and swim. It was a great way to deal with the very hot, humid summers in the Philadelphia area. The humidity was often almost 80%. Of course our mothers told us not to go into the water. They said that it would be dangerous, and that we could drown. As children we knew better, of course (we thought we did anyway). None of us drowned . The water was too beautiful, clear, peaceful, and shallow for that. Something happened that changed that though.

One day a big university bought the park, and somehow gained control of the creek that ran behind it. There was a small spring that ran all the way through the park. People used to bring plastic jugs to a small fountain of spring water, fill them up, and take them home. The spring continued to run all the way through to the creek. They closed down the fountain, built a big cement pipe around the little spring, and began to discharged sewage along with it into the creek. We would go swimming farther up the creek, but we always knew what was right next to us down stream.

As I think of those days and subsequent days, when the whole park was ultimately developed, I realize what was taken away from the community. The community loved to enjoy the fresh breezes and the beauty of the park. Everyone loved the fresh spring water. People loved to swim in the creek. All of these things were taken from us. We couldn