Mukilteo Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

The other evening while walking near Fowler Pear Tree Park in Mukilteo, my wife and I noticed women collecting wild watercress (Nasturtium spp.) from an adjacent drainage ditch that receives runoff from the road, railroad yard, and adjacent homes.

Animal waste is also carried to the ditch via a nearby stormwater grate. We've seen ducks and rabbits using the drainage ditch and often see dog feces in the surrounding area.

Wild watercress can bioaccumulate some metals, such as arsenic, from the environment, as well as carry some parasitic diseases attributable to animal wastes entering the en...