Environmental disaster here....

[K9wife]

:help: To city people this may sound pretty trivial, but to any of you that have lived in a rural area, particularly an agricultural one, you will understand our alarm. Our county had a HUGE environmental disaster here today, that has killed ALL the fish in a 3 county area and contaminated the major river that runs thru to Lake Ontario. A very large dairy farm had a retaining wall spill 3 MILLION gallons or more of liquid manure into the Black River, which literally sucked all the oxygen from the river and suffocated every single fish species, killing thousands and thousands of fish and waterlife. For most of us, the river is the central geographic point...."east of the river" "Just at the mouth of the river..." etc to give someone directions....swimming lessons, family picnics, camping grounds, family camps, and of course- fishing. A tragic loss of nature to a tiny rural county that prides itself on its natural beauty and natural resources.
Thanks for allowing me to come to my friends and share in the sorrow of it all.

[traceann]

That is positively horrible!! My family is huge into outdoor recreation (my hubby owns a fishing-charter boat on Lake Huron) here in Northern Michigan, and I can only imagine what that would be like, it would be devastating. I am sooooo very sorry to hear this, it upsets me terribly! My heart goes out to you and your community. We too are "defined" up here by our natural resources, so I completely understand!

Hugs to you,
Tracey

[ICNDonna]

That's horrible. Do they have any idea how long it might take to clean everything up?

Donna

[K9wife]

They are telling us now that only sunshine can recreate the ecological balance and resume oxygen in the water,etc., and rain to flush away the residue. They have released big bunches of water from reservoirs upstream to "flush" things along quicker, but the theory is that it will take YEARS to restore safe and proper environment for the water creatures (fish,mainly) " Hundreds of thousands of fish killed" When word got out, immediately the restaurants and motels had cancellations, campers changed plans, and saddest of all- dead fish are EVERYWHERE. I never had enough sympathy for those who endured oil spills in the past. One man interviwed said he will probably never again be able to fish the river. or take his grandchildren fishing there in his lifetime. Too, too sad.

[patricia1]

That is totally HORRIBLE. How sad for not only the fish and other river anmials but the people who use this area. You know this has an impact on alot, because there are animals that eat fish and when they eat the dead ones they might get sick and die to. That is just really sad.....