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Columbus
Dispatch
Grand Lake St.
Marys: Treatment for algae hit, miss
By Spencer Hunt
October 15, 2012
A two-year, $8.5 million state project to stop toxic blue-green algae
in Grand Lake St. Marys isn’t working.
In April, the 13,000-acre lake in western Ohio was sprayed with
aluminum sulfate, a compound that is supposed to keep the algae from
feeding on phosphorus in the water. It cost $5 million.
A similar “alum” treatment was credited for keeping algae levels
relatively low in 2011. That cost $3.5 million.
But this year’s treatment was spoiled by winds that helped stir
phosphorus-rich mud from the lake bottom, said Harry Gibbons, a senior
limnologist with Tetra Tech, a Seattle-based consulting firm.
Toxic algae, also called cyanobacteria, are common in most lakes but
grow thick feeding on phosphorus in manure, sewage and fertilizers that
rains wash into nearby streams. The algae produce liver and nerve
toxins that can sicken people and kill pets.
“The wind was three times what it was the previous year,” Gibbons said.
“The sediments that weren’t treated had much more influence.”
Algae warnings have been posted at the lake since May.
During the past few years, Grand Lake has been the poster child for
algae woes in Ohio. It usually is the first to receive toxin alerts and
the last to see those warnings removed.
Gibbons will share his findings in a preliminary report expected by the
end of this month and in a final report in December. His comments raise
questions about whether the state will fund a third treatment.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency monitor toxic algae statewide.
“I expect that we will make a decision sometime this winter,” said
Heidi Griesmer, an Ohio EPA spokeswoman.
Milt Miller, director of the Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration
Commission, said he’s concerned the state won’t fund additional
treatments.
Read the rest of the article at the Columbus
Dispatch
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