By

Jimmy Joe Meeker

A teenaged kid I know went swimming in Old Hickory Lake today at one of the many recreation areas. This recreation area, like all of the rest on Old Hickory, is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and they just got half a million bucks to keep up these facilities next year.

Anyway, when this kid got out of the water, his entire upper body was covered with a rash. Not being allergic to any known substance, it worried him.

A woman in the neighborhood, concerned about the possible health risk, called his mother. The mother came home from work, took the kid to a doctor, and was somewhat disturbed by the diagnosis: Lake mites.

Lake mites.

What in the hell are lake mites? And why are there lake mites in Old Hickory Lake?

Give up? Here's why:

Because Old Hickory Lake is a stinking, obscene cesspool for most of the waste in Wilson, Sumner, Davidson, and other surrounding counties.

There are fourteen thousand houses on Old Hickory Lake and only about six of them are connected to a sewer system. The rest have septic tanks that leak into the lake. There re also hundreds of farms on Old Hickory. The livestock bathe in the lake, excrete in the late, and drink from the lake.

Businesses dump toxic waste into the lake. Boats expel gallons of gasoline and oil into the lake.

Half a million bucks to manage recreation areas? How bout half a million bucks to clean the damned thing up?

That body of water is the most offensive in the State. It is repugnant, unclean, disease-riddled, nauseating, and foul. The Corps of Engineers is responsible for making the mess: they should be held accountable for cleaning it up.

Lake mites? The kid got off easy.

XXX

Back to the Index Next Article Previous Article