To be fair, the newsreel states that the lake was already alkali and uninhabited by aquatic creatures. Sounds like a decent place to ditch the stuff to me...

This happened to me. I was having surgery on my foot and I woke up. I recall trying to communicate the intense pain I was feeling at the time (to date, still the worst pain I have ever felt) and being completely unable to do so. After an unbearable few minutes I recall finally making a noise of some sort and then going back under as the docs realized what happened.