(I'm very well read on peer reviewed scientific literature on dioxin, so look forward to your providing me with additional references substantiating your claims)

My nonscientific opinion is that there is no doubt that testosterone in area males has been adversely affected as most seem to lack cajones in addressing group think and looking at peer reviewed scientific literature (you are aware it is an endocrine disruptor, right).

It is disgraceful that a body of water that Dow wants categorized as a Superfund is the site where people are donating fish from it to the poor. Why isn't Dow serving their execs and themselves that fish? Even more disturbing that MidMichigan Health would condone such.

We now have another anti-corporate biased diatribe hitting the web links concerning the Walleye Festival held yearly in our community. The Freeland Lions Club has held the annual Walleye festival for 24 years and it has grown to become the premier event in our area. We are extremely proud of our accomplishments and the help we are able to provide to our community through the funds raised during our festival.

The age old arguments concerning the safety of eating fish caught in our area have been brought up again and again. Even though the Journal of the American Medical Association documents the fact that the health benefits of eating fish far out weigh any concerns of contamination we still live with the stigma. Everyone is aware of the fish advisories and the cautions put forth by the Michigan Department of Community Health. Every fisherman I have ever talked to uses the advisories to keep janitors employed by throwing them in the trash the minute they are received.

It continues to be hard to fathom why individuals would continue to disparage the image of our communities and state given the horrible situation we find ourselves in. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN HARMED BY DIOXIN IN OUR AREA. Prove otherwise and maybe you will have some legitimacy. There are no widespread high levels of dioxin in our population and we have studies to prove it. What is very troublesome is the lack of individual thought within our governmental regulatory bodies such as the EPA and MDEQ. What a breath of fresh air it would be if an intelligent person within one of these agencies would actually break ranks and confirm the compelling evidence, we have in hand, that dioxin is not a threat to our population.

While it has become apparent that our elected officials, our local newspapers, and community groups want this issue to go away we still have the stubborn faction that thrives on the dark side of data. Their cup is always half empty instead of half full. As a proud Freeland Lion Club member I will continue to try my best to provide help to those less fortunate in our area. Our festival gives us that leverage and we continue to grow despite the subversive efforts such as this little article in the Michigan Messenger. What does that tell you? We would never do anything as a result of our efforts that would put the public health in jeopardy. To have a sneaky little article such as this insinuate that we knowingly are doing this is sick perverted journalism at its worst.

Please take your inconsequential efforts and corporate hatemongering somewhere else where real problems exist. The money being wasted on this issue has reached the point where people are disgusted knowing that it could have been spent on so many other worthwhile projects. We do have real problems in our society and environment. This is not one of them, but is symptomatic of the misguided mindset that causes wastefulness and serves only to massage the ego of a few extremists.