A Stinky Situation – Part 7: Too Much of a Good Thing

By Labcoat Larry 10/29/2018

By Labcoat Larry

I could hear the chanting before I even topped the hill.

“Lakes are for swimming, not dumping! Lakes are for swimming, not dumping!”

When I got to the top of the hill that kept the Apocalypse Fields factory hidden from the public, what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

The kids were waving their signs and chanting in front of the locked gate of the factory. There was a news crew there filming the whole thing. A reporter stood talking to Cindy – she was on the news!

“We’re here today to stop Apocalypse Fields from poisoning the lake with chemical runoff. It not only hurts the lake, it would be very dangerous to any humans in the area, too!” Cindy said.

I rushed down the hill to talk to Cindy while she was on camera.

“Cindy! We know what they’re planning to dump in the lake – and it’s bad news!” I yelled as I approached.

The news camera turned to me, and the reporter pointed her microphone at me so I could speak.

“What we’ve found is that Apocalypse Fields’ fertilizer contains nitrite, which is a powerful pollutant that can kill anything that lives in the lake!” I said, looking into the TV camera.

“Nitrite is a form of nitrogen that plants use as food. But the problem is, when there is too much nitrite in water, it can harm both humans and animals.”

“If Apocalypse Fields dumps its extra nitrite in the lake, algae will take over and steal all the oxygen in the water – killing all the animals that live in the lake. A certain amount of algae is natural and part of the normal ecosystem, but with too much nitrite, the algae will grow out of control and kill everything else!”

“Did you say something about harm to humans, too?” the reporter asked.

“Yes! If Apocalypse Fields dumps their nitrite into the lake, it can leach into our drinking water. And drinking water with too much nitrite can cause all sorts of health problems in people – from making their blood less able to carry oxygen, to cancer, birth defects, diabetes and more,” I said.

The reporter turned to the camera.

“Folks it looks like things are getting serious here at Apocalypse Fields, much more serious than we expected. Stay tuned for the latest updates,” she said.

I turned to Cindy, desperate to get answers.

“What are we going to do Cindy?” I asked. “This is serious. We can’t let this happen. Bass Louie will die if they dump that nitrite in the lake!”

Cindy froze. Bass Louie is her best friend, she couldn’t let anything happen to him. I could see the look of fear on her face, but it didn’t take long before that fear turned into determination.

“I’ve got a plan,” she said. “Come with me, Larry. We’ve got to call in reinforcements.”

Find out what happens after Cindy and Larry leave the protest in A Stinky Situation: Part 8: Not All Heroes Wear Capes