GROTON, Mass. (AP) Standing in the 5-acre meadow expanding from her house toward the forest along the Nashua River, Marion Stoddart can easily recall the putrid odor that once signaled the direction of the waterway.

Toxic discharge from area paper mills colored the water red, yellow and blue during the 1960s, and snarled it under thick crusts of sludge. The state deemed the feces-ridden river unfit to even transport waste.

“Birds and animals could walk across the top of it without getting their feet wet,” Stoddart said.

Read more: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/06/01/renowned-mass-environmentalist-not-ready-to-retire-at-age-85/