Study Links Coho Salmon Deaths To Stormwater From Washington Highways

"SUQUAMISH, Wash. — Stormwater runoff from highways appears to contain one or more unidentified compounds shown to be highly toxic to coho salmon and perhaps other salmon as well."

"The problem has been studied only a few years. Now, experiments at Grover's Creek Hatchery in North Kitsap have confirmed that polluted stormwater has the ability to kill adult coho before they can spawn.

This 'pre-spawn mortality,' as it is called, could pose a serious threat to the ongoing salmon populations in many urban areas, said Nathaniel 'Nat' Scholz, a biologist with NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center."

The Associated Press had the story January 22, 2013.