Editorial: It’s not all gloom & doom — Sherwood pond has fish to eat

The recent update on the chemical contamination of fish in Belleville Lake and the Huron River was quite depressing.
Daniel Brown of the Huron River Watershed Council gave a report to members of the Van Buren Township Environmental Commission at their April 17 meeting. He told them it will be years before fish in Belleville Lake will be safe to eat.
The PFAS coming down the Huron River — which runs through the Belleville Lake impoundment – brings the contaminants from manufacturers along the river from ‘way upstream. The PFAS family of chemicals – up to 5,000 different ones – are called the forever chemicals because they do not go away. They need to be dealt with at the source – whatever manufacturing facility used the Teflon-like chemicals.
But, it’s not all gloom and doom in fishing news in the tri-commmunity.
At Tuesday’s Sumpter Township board meeting, Trustee Don LaPorte reported there is good fishing in Sumpter’s Sherwood Pond. He said bass are being caught and he knows someone who caught a six-pound bass. Sherwood Pond is not fed by the Huron River and we are pretty sure those Sumpter fish are edible.
Sumpter is having a spring cleanup of Banotai Park and the shores of Sherwood Pond from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. It might be a good time to join in to support a good fishing place.