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The Other Way
For decades wastewater discharge from the Champion Paper Mill at Canton NC overwhelmed the scenic Pigeon River. Depending on who you asked and who conducted the tests, the waters running thru the spectacular gorge alongside I-40 on its downstream journey to Knoxville TN were among the most polluted and unhealthful in the US for nearly 90 years. After protracted legal battles and bitter disputes, the discharges were finally cleaned up in the mid-90s, and the Pigeon has become one of the region's better whitewater rides. For the detailed story, I recommend Richard Bartlett's excellent and thorough book Troubled Waters.
For Jay & Joan Shults of Cosby, TN
Words & music A. McKnight, ©1997 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
That old photo shows my farm, along this river clear
so long ago before that paper mill appeared
my granddad is that man, fishin’ on the banks
in the gentle shadow of these smoky mountain flanks
Chorus
My faith will take me someday to the Promised Land
and I know it’ll look just like my home, before this curse began,
and if I could change the world, I wonder what they’d say,
if this dirty river, flowed the other way
Verse 2
8 decades passed since that day they flipped the switch
and unimagined nightmares poured downstream while they got rich
the government brought permits, hearings, bureaucrats and files
the river brought us cancer while their lawyers brought denials
Chorus
Verse 3
I take deep regret into my twilight years,
what unknown demons face the ones I hold so dear,
bury me along these banks in our Appalachian way
in the hope this stinking river will flow pure again someday
Chorus
