Republican, Democrat, governor, Legislature, veto or no veto, it doesn&8217;t matter who is right or who is wrong. It doesn&8217;t matter who is playing politics or who is in an election year.

What matters is that Minnesota state leaders, from Gov. Tim Pawlenty on down, need to make sure that &8212; if nothing else &8212; pollution gets taken care of. It is flat out wrong that chemicals from the old landfill that is beneath the present North Edgewater Park have been allowed to pollute Fountain Lake for so long without the proper funding to clean it up.

Lack of state regulation of landfills allowed the pollution to happen in the first place and the lack of state funding to clean it up has allowed it to persist this long.

The levels of pollution are said to be safe for recreation, but it is wrong that there has been a level of pollution in the first place.

People swim in this lake, ski in it, fish in it. Your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters use it.

The governor and legislators had better remember that. This legislative session should not end without Albert Lea getting a simple $2.5 million cleanup request.

Without it, the chemicals will leak for still another year, maybe two, maybe until the end of Pawlenty&8217;s term.