October 01, 2014
By Ned Kehde
Six years ago a fisheries biologist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism told me that the atrazine pollution in one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' reservoirs that he manages was depressingly and alarmingly high.
Since then, we have talked to several limnologists, and we have come to the conclusion that the pollution levels in all of the flatland reservoirs in northeastern Kansas have reached a point that it not wise to consume any of the fish that we catch. Therefore, we have not eaten any of the fish that our family members have caught during the past five years.
Here are six links to newspaper stories that recently caught my eye about our never-ending battle to keep our waterways clean in the United States:
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(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/us/scientists-turn-their-gaze-toward-tiny-threats-to-great-lakes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
(2) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/29/plastic-found-lakes/2598135/.
(3) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/us/pesticide-levels-in-waterways-have-dropped-reducing-the-risks-to-humans.html?_r=0 .
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(4) http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/a-rising-tide-of-contaminants/?ref=science .
(5 ) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/us/lifting-ban-toledo-says-its-water-is-safe-to-drink-again.html?_r=0 .
(6) http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/massive-destructive-algae-blooms-may-be-lake-eries-new-normal .