I wrote this story after participating in and recording a press conference call for the first time. At first I was nervous to jump in and ask a question, but I'm so glad I did! The question I asked was how the Lake of the Ozarks got so E.coli-infested in the first place. Turns out, agriculture is (no surprise here) partly to blame.
This isn't in the story, but much of the E.coli problem at Lake of the Ozarks is from agricultural animals' run-off - that's right, poop. What's sad is that what's happening at the Lake is just the teensy-tiny tip of the iceberg when it comes to agricultural pollution in the U.S. It's not the sexiest topic by any stretch, and I know most people are to the point where they're tuning out "green" issues. If things don't change within the agricultural system though, shitty situations like this one at the Lake will occur with increasing frequency. And no amount of suspending government officials will change that.
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