Sunday, July 29, 2012

Wisconsin dyes lake blue to disguise pollution

Oh this is priceless.

Blogging Blue notes that in Scott Walker's Wisconsin a lake is dyed blue to disguise algae.
The lake that’s home to the long-running Tommy Bartlett ski show has gone from pea green to a more aesthetically-pleasing color. 
Five-hundred gallons of dye bought with nearly $30,000 in taxpayers’ money has turned the 267-acre Lake Delton to a tranquil, tourist-attracting aqua-blue.
The comments are the best:
The dye used is questionable for an open body of water, and I can’t imagine any dye that would be appropriate for any natural water system – because it’s you know – a lacustrine ecosystem and all… The dye pond is a perfect example of a solution made out of ignorance and one lacking in prudence.
And this:
Siphoning $30,000 of taxpayer monies into the private sector for, at best, a 30 day fix to a long-term problem is the consequence of state leadership that does not value its environment and waterways.
And then this:
There’s conflict of interest… one of the four village trustees who approved the expenditure is Tom Diehl, the president, general manager and co-owner of Tommy Bartlett, Inc., whose ski show uses the lake... 
Is that what government should be, using public funds to promote private business? Because it generates more tax revenue? Algae grows because its food is present. If they’d tried to pass a rule banning the use of fertilizers on lawns around the lake, Republicans would’ve railed about the loss of personal freedom. Or creeping socialism. Or the because three people testified that the lake seemed just fine for most of last year.