This is a historical account of a catastrophic failure of a city sewage lagoon in a karst area, which polluted groundwater and sickened at least 800 people. The story first appeared in the 2020 edition of Elder Mountain, A Journal of Ozark Studies, published by Missouri State University-West Plains.

Read how a community came together and resolved a controversy over an endangered cave fish. This article was featured in the Missouri Conservationist, February 2022, and recounts the story also told in the documentary “Karst in Perry County.”