Ralph Peyton, president of Crater Lake Lodge Co., calls two private doctors in Klamath Falls and Portland and is told that there is a lot of "flu going around".

Two YCc leaders meet with the Park's administration and ask permission to take water samples to the Klamath Health Center. At first the request is granted, and then Chief Wiggins overrules the leaders telling them, "Don't bother."

Several young Peregrine falcons are successfully raised in the Park by their parents. The nest is never located.

Waldo Nye, 198 Mill Creek Drive, Prospect, Oregon grandson of Chauncey Nye and grandson-in-law of Superintendent Arant, visits the Park.

90 employeees are known to be sick, which is about 40% of the work force.

Some employees decide to boil their water.

Dr. John Googins, state epidemiologist, and other members of his team meet with Superintendent Sims. Illnesses seem to be declining, part of a regional problem with the "flu" they feel. While checking food services at the Lodge, Lodge President Ralph Peyton challenges the health team's authority to come onto federal land and claims they are on a "witch hunt." The team finally leaves the Park in the evening, "puzzled by the information collected" and confused as to whether the State of Oregon has jurisdiction to follow the situation any further, but is convinced that the source of the employee illness is most likely the water supply.

YCC leaders meet with Chief of Maintenance, Jeff Adams and Chief Ranger Wiggins and are told that their water samples showing "fetal coliform" were probably not taken properly. YCC Director then shows the results of the water test to Dr. Koplan who says it makes the water suspect and that it should be boiled, but that he is still undecided as to the method of illness transmission.

A State Health Division staff nurse who had just returned home from a bus tour of Crater Lake calls Dr. Googins to say that 14 out of 15 people on the bus tour, which had visited Crater Lake on July 4, are sick. This call establishes the incubation period of the illness - 36 to 48 hours.

To all visitors

Over the past several weeks there has been an outbreak of gastroenterits in Crater Lake National Park. The illness is characterized by diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and chills. It can last anywhere from a few hours to several days. It is unclear how this illness is contracted for how it is spread. We have professional U.S. public health personnel actively working on this problem now.

While using the Park facilities, we recommend using no water for drinking, for food preparation, or for tooth brushing that hasn't been preboiled or treated with iodine or chlorine tablets. Water may not be a factor in contracting the illness, but we feel this precaution is important to this point.

We hoped to correct this situation as quickly has possible.

Thank you, Richard H. Sam's, Superintendent Crater Lake National Park

Willard Titus, Oregon Health sanitary and, checks the Park's water system pressure and chlorine. Titus discovers that the water to Munson Valley is not being chlorinated.

Ms. Gina Wright, supervising sanitarian, checks the food service areas of the Lodge and cafeteria and notices that some of the workers are ill. The medical team suggests closing down the food service, but Dr. Koplan asked for another 24 hours since the method of transmission has not yet been determined. Dr. Koplan asks for more help and Dr. Googins sends three additional staff members.

After phoning Headquarters in applying pressure, Superintendent Sims allows Lodge President Peyton to replace the health service signs with one of their own. The Lodge Company posed signs above all Rim Village drinking water fountains reading "This water has been adequately chlorinated and is tested daily by the U.S. public health service.

Seasonal patrol rangers are dispatched to remove all the Public Health Service warning signs. The rangers complete the job around midnight, after several nasty confrontations with Mr. Peyton. Peyton wants to know what all the excitement is about, "After all, nobody has died yet," he says.

Ryan Gilmore, food service manager, following a food service inspection by Drs. Koplan and Rosenberg, decides to close the Lodge dining room tomorrow to consolidate employees who are still able to work in the Cafeteria.

The YCC staff decides to close camp on July 12.

Dr. Koplan is still concerned that the transmission method is unknown, but feels there is "insufficient evidence" to close the Park. Dr. Googins, disturbed about the indecision, calls Dr. Conrad, Dr. Koplan's supervisor in Atlanta. Dr. Conrad concurs with Dr. Koplan but there's not sufficient evidence to support closure of the Park. Several more calls, the director of CDC is contacted in Atlanta in the local doctors are told, "Let's consider this overnight and will give you a call in July 11." Several of the doctors now feel the method of illness transmission is a "person-to-person " contact.

Dr. Barns digs through the snowpack to find the chlorine line at Munson Springs and finds that the chlorinator's position and lack of mixing, allows the water in the Headquarters line to bypass the chlorinator completely. Another chlorinator is installed on the Headquarters line. Barnes then digs through the snow to take samples in the Headquarters reservoir.

At 7:30 p.m. Jeff Adams discovers an area directly below the Lodge where the snow has fallen in and discovers and overflowing manhole on the sewer line leading directly from the Lodge. The exposed to ground is covered with sewage, solid waste and toilet paper.

At 8:10 p.m., florescein dye is placed in a manhole above Munson Spring overflow. Green dye appears at the plugged manhole a few minutes later. Forty minutes later the dye appears in Munson Springs. Barnes crawled onto the collection caisson at the springs and finds evidence of dye coming in from the collection pipes. Titus, Barnes and Dr. Koplan pry the cover off the collection caisson and discover solid sewer waste floating in the cement box.

Titus and Barnes walked the watershed between Munson Springs in the Lodge checking all holes in the snow. Solid human waste and paper are visible. The odor of human waste is very evident.

At 10 p.m. a flat 6-inch rock is removed from the sewer line. Superintendent Sims is notified and Park rangers start a massive house-to-house operation to warn residents to stop using the water immediately. When Dr. Rosenberg was asked by dispatcher Ranger, Larry Smith, why the residents couldn't just continued to boil the water in the Dr. answered rather agitatedly, "You can't boil out human feces" Memos follow. All Park residents are notified by midnight. Since the seasonals did not have telephones, patrol rangers had to know on doors.

Doctors Koplan and Rosenberg recommend gamma gobulin shots as precautions against hepatitis by all who visited Crater Lake. The doctors recommend closing of the Park.

By noon the National Guard helicopter arrives with medical supplies so that the public health people can begin administering gamma government shots.

120 Crater Lake Lodge employees and about 50 Park service employees are temporarily furloughed, some with full pay.

TV news crews from ABC, CBS, and NBC arrive in the Park, some have come by helicopter, to cover the breaking story of the parks closure.

Kimberly Brown, age 9, falls from Mazama Campground into Annie Creek Canyon and is rescued by Park personnel. Kimberly receives numerous bruises, cuts and a fractured skull.

The hearing has been called to investigate serious allegations that have been raised concerning the circumstances which led to the closure of the Park on July 11. The allegations of a cover-up has passed a shadow over the performance of the various officials and enterprises who have the responsibilities for preserving the integrity of the government's custody and ship of the national parks. The allegations have raised the possibility of a cover-up was supposedly engineered via the Park, concessionaire and NPS and that pressure was brought on officials to ignore the serious threat to the public and the concessionaire's employees who handled food at the Park were made to work while sick, which endangered the public.

The hearing lasts for 13 hours and covered 226 pages of testimony.

Mr. Hatfield is astounded to learn the Park superintendents do not receive specialized training before assuming their positions of responsibility.

Senator: "Do you have a superintendent's manual or some printed outline of your duties and responsibilities as a Park Superintendent?" Mr. Sims: "I have never seen anything."

Senator: "Dod you receive any instructions from any person on the conduct and responsibility of the Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park?" Mr. Sims: "No sir". "

" Mr. Hatfield becomes very upset with all of the documented cases of employees and visitors becoming sick after visiting Crater Lake that the Park had not been closed sooner. "Closing the Park even one day sooner than you did, had the potential of saving thousands from potential illness. What were you waiting for... Someone to die first!?" (paraphrased)

Senator Hatfield concludes that there has not been a cover-up as such by Park officials, but rather a series of serious blunders compounded by inexperience, inattention and poor training by many of the Park and U.S. Health personnel involved in the water crisis. There had been also a breakdown of command because: Park authority was not clearly defined. There was much confusion because of overlapping jurisdictions and nobody seemed to be in charge. Senator Hatfield: "Rather than trying to save the people who were on fire, you were looking for the cause of the fire." (paraphrased)

Season 1975 Visitation: 427,252. Down 20% due to the three-week closure of the Park during July and August.

(Next stop 1976)