Little Clifty Creek fish kill remains a mystery

Local News

July 26, 2007

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Thu Jul 26, 2007, 08:38 AM EDT

Somerset — The fish kill on Little Clifty Creek in western Pulaski County is still a mystery.

“At this point, we don’t know (for sure) what caused it,” said Mike Hardin, chief of the Environmental Section, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The oxygen level was fine ... it (oxygen) was not suppressed enough to kill fish.”

John Williams, district biologist for the Southeastern Fisheries District, checked the creek on July 12, the same day a reporter called to report the incident. Williams said he is looking at the possibility that manure may have washed into the creek causing the fish kill.

The dead fish were first noticed on the creek bank by Emmett Lanham, pastor of Tabernacle Pentecostal Ministries and founder of nearby Camp Dove, a religious retreat. Lanham called a reporter and a story and photograph of the dead fish were published in the Commonwealth Journal on July 13.

Hardin said Williams tested the oxygen level in the creek that day and it was 6.85. “Anything below 4 will kill fish,” Hardin noted. He said there have been natural fish kills this summer due to the drought.

“The oxygen was OK,” said Williams in a later conversation with the Commonwealth Journal. “It wasn’t lack of oxygen ... the oxygen level in the creek was fine.”

Williams said he found at least 500 dead fish in various stages of decomposition at five spots along the creek bordering Bethlehem and Valley roads. “And there may have been many more,” he added.

Apparently whatever killed the fish is no longer in the creek. Williams said live fish were swimming in the water near where the dead fish were on the banks.

A man who has fished in Little Clifty Creek since “I was a kid” is disturbed about what has happened to his favorite fishing spot.

Robert Hudson, who currently lives on Country Lane about a mile above Little Clifty, said he has walked three or four miles along the creek bank and there were dead fish “stacked up” all along the area where he walked.

Worse than that, Hudson said, he observed a doe drinking out of the creek at a bridge near Camp Dove. Hudson said he saw the doe again about 150 feet across the road and the animal appeared very sick.

“The doe was vomiting ... it was skin and bones ... that deer was dying,” said Hudson.

The water in the creek had a red tinge, according to Hudson. “It looked like rust ... if it were more than four inches deep, you couldn’t see the bottom.”

Most of the dead fish were creek chubs, Hudson said. He said fish as large as 6 inches were lying on the bank. “They were chubs ... I only saw one or two bluegill,” he said.

“People have told me that the water is hot and lost its oxygen, but I don’t believe that,” said Hudson. “I’m a bricklayer and I know heat ... it just hasn’t been that hot this summer.”

“Our main focus now is to make sure steps are in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Williams emphasized. He said the investigation continues and he was planning another trip to the area Thursday.

Little Clifty Creek flows into Big Clifty Creek, then into Fishing Creek and eventually into Lake Cumberland.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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