Fresh Loaf

1. Hundreds of fish die in Piedmont Park’s Lake Clara Meer (Turns out it was more like thousands of fish that perished, reportedly from dissolved oxygen. Who knows what Sir Paul thought?)

2. AJC may abandon Marietta Street (Today we learned the paper’s new HQ will be in the action-packed ‘burbs come next June.)

3. Why I want a public option (Andisheh Nouraee clearly states why there needs to be an alternative to private health insurance.)

4. Columnist’s solution to gay sex in parks? Attack dogs. (Marietta Daily Journal resident curmudgeon enlightens us with his wonderful idea of how Marietta City Council should send gays “back to Atlanta where they belong.”)

5. Fulton, Forsyth ban chaining your dog (Beginning Sept. 4, dogs in Fulton County cannot be chained or tethered to a fixed object unless held by an attendant or by the owner.)

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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It was an eerie and stinky scene at Piedmont Park today as hundreds of dead fish floated on the surface and washed up on the shores of Lake Clara Meer.

Parkgoers were baffled by the event, which a Georgia Department of Natural Resources official interviewed by the AJC said was most likely caused by algae bloom. When the algae die off, the water’s oxygen can dissolve. If that was what caused today’s die-off, then the fish essentially suffocated to death.

Underneath dead fish washed ashore, you could spot schools swimming below nipping at the flies landing on the bodies. A spokesman for the Piedmont Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that helps maintain the public park, say it’s likely those fish will also die.

The AJC notes that these events are a common occurrence during the summer in the Southeast. Park officials expect more information to become available in the coming days. Additional DNR officials are scheduled to evaluate the situation on Monday.

After the jump, a statement from the conservancy’s president and CEO and more photos of dead fish.

(more…)

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Number of Georgia rivers, lakes and streams with fish that, according to the state, people should never eat: 7

Percentage of “do-not-eat” fish advisories Georgia issued in 2008 because of mercury contamination: 74

Percentage of Chattahoochee River’s analyzed area that exceeds acceptable levels of fecal coliform bacteria: 39

Number of places in Georgia the state has deemed contaminated and harmful to humans and animals: 566

Number of illegally dumped scrap tires the state recovered in 2007: 268,000

Number of days in June that air has been considered unhealthy for sensitive groups: 2

Average pounds of trash a Georgian disposes of each day: 6.4

Average pounds of trash an average American disposes each day: 3.08

Percentage of trash Georgians toss in landfills that could be recycled: 40

Sources: Georgia Environmental Protection Division, YouGottaBeKidding.org

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