Why the 'Fish Advisory'...

... because the bureaucrats are increasingly aware that living with dioxin in the environment does NOT make a significant difference in the bodies of human inhabitants! The fact is the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) has been conducting studies on individuals in Louisana for the past 6-7 years to discover if there is any significant difference in dioxins in the human body in people living in an industrial belt compared to others. They just published their results on March 15, 2006. They found NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!!! Must be Louisianans get their food at supermarkets just like we do here in the mid-Michigan area along the Tittabawassee!

I'm sure the University of Michigan study will produce similar results. I'm sure Mr. Chester and his jolly band already have a pretty good idea of how that study will turn out. Read all about the Louisiana study here:

• Dioxin Blood Level Study Results Released - reported on KPLC TV – Lake Charles, LA
• Study shows Acadiana Dioxin levels normal; Calcasieu Parish residents had health concerns By PATRICK COURREGES, Acadiana bureau. Published: Mar 17, 2006
• Serum Dioxin Levels in Residents of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana PDF file published by ATSDR March 15, 2006

Meanwhile, along the Tittabawassee..... the floods came... the floods stayed long enough to worry us a bit... the floods are receding... by tomorrow it will just be a dirty muddy mess along the floodplain. Although it reportedly crested at levels compared to March 2004, it did not come up as high downstream in Freeland, thank heaven. It actually didn't have me worried until Thursday when it peaked here.

I dutifully phoned AKT Peerless, the environmental company hired by Dow Chemical to do the temporary cleanups. The young lady came out and took photos of the flooded area, although it came up even more after she left. I don't think they'll clean up all the yard trash and miscellaneous other trash that landed in my backyard.

The paperwork handed to me by AKT Peerless representative highlighted they would clean mud off any paved surfaces... and would clean up any carpets, etc. that might have been muddied by flood waters. Shucks! I didn't have the lower half acre paved yet! I guess my family and I will have to clean it up ourselves just like we always have in past years!