My favorite creek KILLED

[CRAPPIECAT]

Boy am I bummed.

Late last summer I found a great little fishing spot. It was a creek flowing out of Lake Lawtonka, down Medicine Creek, with a low water damn to hold water year round. This is important in SW Okla. due to sparce rain.

Any who. This creek was clear (again, unusual for around here), just the right size to fish, and easy access, since it flowed through the little town of Medicine Park. AND, most importantly, stuffed with BG, Stripe Bass, LMB, catfish, Carp......and Crappie! Most days there were 30 to 50 fish days. And a "watering hole" just few yards from the creek when a feller got hot and thirsty.

Then two weeks ago I show up ready for my Sat fishing, I cast a few times with no bites, oh well, kinda slow i thought. Then a couple setting in the shade says, "there's no fish in there." I think to myself, "yeah, not many, I only catch fish till I'm tired every time I'm here."

Thanks, I say and the lady says, "no, really, they had a cholorine spill last week at the water treatment plant, and killed EVERYTHING in the creek."

Talk about deflating me. I reel in, go inside the "watering hole" and ask. Yup.The owner says the water treatment plant up stream by the lake damn had a big cholorine leak, and killed everything in the creek, big fish, small fish, clams.....etc......everything.......AAAAARRRRRGGGG GHHHHH.

So, my question is, how long will it take for this to come back(of course depending what methods are used)? I'm sure there is going to be a lawsuit, but you know what they say about sueing city hall.

[J Castwell]

Aw no,,, not letting you off so easy. How about finding out exactly how and how-come it happened. Who is getting sued. Get involved. Become part of the solution and report on here. If not you; who should? Our group stopped a huge chemical plant,,, and I'm damn proud to have been even a small part of it. Now,,, is it your turn?

[DG]

Cat, if you want to know what a whole-stream restoration can be like after a spill, do some research on the Cantera spill on the upper Sacramento many years ago. Trout stream, not a warmwater stream like yours, but a similar event.

Chlorine isn't persistent, which means that the stream should start healing again immediately, with life moving down from the unaffected areas above the spill, and from below where the spill killed everything, and from tribs, and so forth. It might never be exactly as you remember it, tho.

Get involved, make sure that the responsible parties fess up and do their part to make things right again.

Dennis

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

Nothing like the press for getting the word out. Has it been in the local news? Sounds like it was bad enough that it should have hit the papers by now. If not call them. They love a good cover up story more than anything.


Hah! took a while but I found it.

http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7585444

What is really scarey is that this is not the first time the clorine tank leaked and there seems to have been a reluctance to do a proper fix then and again now. Foot dragging from the city up stream from Medicine Park.

[DShock]

I did some research on this subject and I just want to share an opinion from a Forum I read. The person said "their lake got poisoned by chlorine and the fish came back bigger than before." Opinion & Quote.
Doug

[CRAPPIECAT]

Nothing like the press for getting the word out. Has it been in the local news? Sounds like it was bad enough that it should have hit the papers by now. If not call them. They love a good cover up story more than anything.


Hah! took a while but I found it.

http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7585444

What is really scarey is that this is not the first time the clorine tank leaked and there seems to have been a reluctance to do a proper fix then and again now. Foot dragging from the city up stream from Medicine Park.

Yep!
Thanks for the link, it tells the story much better than me.

And believe me JC, I am staying involved, and I even told and showed 2 reporters from Wichita Falls (about 50 miles away, and Lawton's biggest rivial city) last week. I have their e-mails and a cell phone # of the anchor.

As I said before though, the town of Medicine Park and Lawton don't get along too well,and it is feared that Lawton will not do the right thing.....believe me from whom I've talked to, if they don't, the stink raised by all, will be more than what the fish caused.

[CRAPPIECAT]

Doug,

I hope you are right, can you give me some info about the situation you are talking about, and what exctly they did to help it come back?

[DG]

Cat, this isn't a city/county issue, this is a fish and game department issue, a department of environmental quality issue, and so on. Call the local fish and game guy, then the state office, then the health department (Chlorine is as good at killing people as it is fish)...

[DShock]

Doug,

I hope you are right, can you give me some info about the situation you are talking about, and what exctly they did to help it come back?

The reason I only posted that info, was because it was just a short blog that did not go into any details.
I will continue to search for more info.
Doug