It’s snowing and cold now, and much of Grand Lake St. Mary's is frozen – but the images of the lake this past summer still haunt me. When I made the decision to move from Dayton to Celina after retirement, I was an ignorant “city girl", dreaming only of fishing, swimming, rides on the pontoon and jet-skiing – what a life, (not just for me but for my kids and grandkids!) I retired and “settled” in my place on the lake June 4, when school was out, and, by the July 4th weekend, the lake was covered with blue-green algae.

A ban was put on the lake when two toxins were discovered in the algae, and our pontoons, boats, jet-skis and kayaks sat in the channels, trapped in the green or blue swirls for the remainder of the summer. A neighbor’s lab died after swimming at the beach. The neighbor got sick. Every day, I drove my bicycle to the channel where our boats were tied, and discovered dead ducks floating in the algae;- I even watched two herons die. I’d never seen and couldn’t possibly have imagined, the sights and smells that greeted me each day.

I’m quickly learning how much influence and impact farming has in Ohio. Richard Middleton, the “Erin Brockovich” of farm pollution, wants to file a class action suit against the offending farmers and corporations behind them, whose manure runoff, (and illegal dumping into nearby creeks,) has made the lake toxic; but very few residents here are willing to participate. They’re either related to farmers, or dependent on the farm industry in Mercer County. When word got out that a suit might be filed, folks started boycotting all businesses they thought were affiliated with the suit.

The “official” stance is: “We must cooperate;” “The farmers are our friends;” “The farmers must voluntarily patrol one another – regulations aren’t the answer;” and, the best: “We must educate the farmers.”

I’m not sorry I moved here, because I’m not dependent on the farmers and can voice my opinion and spread the word through photographs, writing and the spoken word. Look at the photos – too bad smell can’t be recorded – and if you know ANYONE who owns property on Grand Lake and would like to be a part of the lawsuit, have them contact Richard Middleton in Savannah GA at 912-234-1133. There’ll be no cost to be part of the lawsuit - (if a settlement is reached, the Middleton Firm will get 40% + expenses; if not, they get nothing). Check him out at: closeanimalfactories.org – he was one of a handful of prominent lawyers handpicked by Bobby Kennedy Jr. to fight bad agricultural practices.

You’ve probably been reading about all the “fixes” and experiments going on at the lake; but if the source isn’t stopped, nothing will help it; - and believe me, this isn’t just Grand Lake.

We may have the largest and most shallow lake in the state, and were hit the hardest - (Mercer County is the largest agricultural county in the state) - but 21 Ohio lakes were affected this summer – and eventually, if we don’t stop the source, the algae will be coming to a waterway near you. We MUST change our farming practices if we want to enjoy our waterways!