The Capital Press reports that two billboards in Washington State that accuse farmers of polluting water violated a federal rule by failing to note that the Environmental Protection Agency funds the group that put up the signs. A coalition of environmental groups and the Swinomish Indian tribe put up the billboards in Olympia and Bellingham to promote What’s Upstream, a media campaign crafted by a public relations firm to link agriculture with water pollution.

The tribe has received EPA grants totaling nearly $570,000, primarily for the services of a Seattle based PR firm, Strategies 360. The EPA indicated they have been kept informed since the tribe hired Strategies 360 more than three years ago. The tribe has used federal funds originally awarded to the fisheries commission to educate the public about fish restoration.