Politics. It's a fact of life in the break room at the office, in the cafeteria of every middle school and in gathering places all around the shores of Lake Texoma. Politics affect us all, all the time. Sometimes it can be hard to sort out the truth from the strong opinions. And that is surely what's going on in the news and in the gossip regarding the safety of Blue Green Algae in Lake Texoma and other Texas and Oklahoma lakes when water temperatures rise and rain falls infrequently. That would be now, for example. The Grayson County Health Department published a PDF presentation dated May 21, 2013 that I will be quoting now, because it opened my eyes to many interesting facts about Blue Green Algae. I trust it will open your eyes, too. BGA is an abbreviation for Blue Green Algae in the following: "Since the early 2000's, there have been several incidents where blue-green algae blooms have affected popular recreational lakes ... To leave no stone unturned in looking for human and animal harm potentially caused by swimming in or drinking water from Lake Texoma, we've enlisted help from the following entities and individuals: TD-USACE and FWD-USACE, EPA, CDC, TDSHS, TCEQ, TPWD, OSDH, Doctors and Emergency Rooms in Grayson, Fannin, Cooke, Bryan, and Marshall counties, Veterinarians in the same five Texoma region counties... Between May 2011 and May 2013 (5 county Texoma region): No reports of human illness from hospital ER's No reports of human illness from family doctors or dermatologists (skin rash) No reports of near-fatal or fatal dog poisonings related to Lake Texoma or local stock ponds No fish kills in Texoma reported by theCorps, or TPWD, or TCEQ No reports of suspicious bird or mammal deaths from Hagerman biologists... Using the highest single value of CYN toxin found during the study (0.63 ppb in July 2012 in Little Mineral Arm), a 40 pound child would have to drink 33,000 gallons of Texoma water to receive a fatal dose of poison At current CYN levels, a 150 pound adult could drink one gallon of lake water daily, every day for the rest of his life, and not suffer symptoms related to this toxin... BGA are normal, generally harmless flora in lakes around the world. The amount and types of BGA in Texoma are likely similar to other Texas and Oklahoma lakes. The amounts of the toxin CYN in Texoma are likely similar to other Texas and Oklahoma lakes Three of the four common BGA toxins known to exist are absent from Texoma The amount of CYN toxin in Texoma is very near the scientific limit of detection, and has no public health significance." 'Nuff said? Here's the link to that Grayson County Health Department PDF so you can read the source material for yourself: http://www.co.grayson.tx.us/users/Health_Dept/BGA%20Update%20May%202013%20presentation.pdf