Grand Lake St. Marys 'dying' from toxic algae
By Jim DeBrosse, Staff Writer
Updated 10:59 PM Friday, July 2, 2010
GRAND LAKE ST. MARYS — Ben Rupert has lived 47 of his 50 years in the Villa Nova section of Grand Lake St. Marys, where on Tuesday morning he watched juvenile detention crews shovel dead catfish from a beach and pile them in the back of a dump truck. When the crew left, only the hungry seagulls remained.
“Years ago, it was nothing to see 60 to 100 people on this beach every day in the summer,” Rupert said. “And you can see what it is today. This is definitely the worst it’s ever been.”
Residents and business owners say the water quality of the state’s largest inland lake has been gradually deteriorating over the last 10 to 15 years, but the problem has rapidly accelerated in the last three. An outbreak of algae in May 2009 led the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to post signs advising “limited contact” with the water and no ingestion. When the water cleared over the winter, the signs were taken down this April.
But by mid-June, a new and more toxic species of blue-green algae, called Aphanizomenon gracile, had taken hold of the lake. The new algae produced a foul-smelling blue-green scum and killed off thousands of fish. It also released liver and neuro toxins into the water. Although health officials aren’t sure exactly what levels of the toxins are dangerous to humans, the Ohio EPA posted signs June 18 advising “no contact” with the water.
Business people frustrated
The signs are likely to remain in effect for weeks to come, to the frustration of already hard-pressed business people. Tourism was down 16 percent after last year’s algae outbreak and has plummeted even further since the latest algae outbreak, said Donna Grube, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Mercer and Auglaize Counties. The future of the lake’s $160 million tourism industry and its 2,600 employees is at stake, she said.
While angry locals continue to press state officials for solutions, the experts say there are no quick ones.
“The clock is ticking. This lake is dying,” said Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which owns the lake and operates it as a state park.
The solution “will definitely take collaborative action among government agencies at all levels and private landowners. This problem didn’t happen overnight and it won’t be solved overnight,” Logan said.
Friday, Gov. Ted Strickland sent letters to the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for economic and environmental assistance for a problem that’s “causing a significant loss to local businesses and the overall livelihood of the region.”
Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski said the latest species of algae bloom is one “we haven’t seen before, and there is cycling in the lake we’ve never seen before. At this point, we just don’t understand it.”
The root cause, however, is clear — the run-off of manure and fertilizers from watershed lands feeding the lake. Ninety percent of that land is used for livestock and crop production by 450 or so mostly family-owned farms, according to the Ohio Farm Bureau. It also happens to be some of the most productive and profitable farmland in Ohio. In 2007, Mercer County ranked first in the state, and Auglaize County eighth, in agricultural revenues, generating a total of $675 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Manure and most farm fertilizers contain phosphorus, which feed the algae in the lake. Depending on the species, the algae may or may not release toxins into the water. Either way, as the algae blooms and dies off, it robs oxygen from the water and kills off fish. The dying algae and its phosphorus settle into the sediment at the bottom of the lake.
Shallow depth, slow cycling rate
Experts say Grand Lake St. Marys is particularly susceptible to algae blooms because of its shallow depth and slow water cycling rate. Winds across the lake can kick up phosphorous from the sediment, further feeding the algae. And the lake is so massive it takes a year and a half for all of its water to cycle through.
Since last fall, an alliance of state agencies — ODNR, Ohio EPA and Ohio Department of Agriculture — have worked with local farmers to improve their fertilizer and manure management practices and to create uncultivated buffer zones to prevent run-off from reaching the lake’s watershed. The agencies have received $2 million over the last two years from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help with the voluntary effort.
But progress has been slow. According to a report released by the ODNR in March, only about 23 percent of the 54,000 acres in the watershed is farmed under nutrient management plans approved within the last five years. The lake restoration alliance has a goal of increasing that compliance to 35 percent by 2011.
Programs to induce farmers to create buffer zones around their fields have been hampered by a lack of funds. The USDA’s Wetland Reserve Program offers $3,500 per acre to protect or restore wetlands, but farm values in the watershed are $8,000 to $10,000 per acre. Likewise, the federal Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) pays farmers about $50 an acre to create buffer zones, but the Ohio Farm Bureau says farmers can make two to three times that much by cultivating the acreage.
Larry Antosch, director of environmental policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau, said it’s not fair to make farmers assume most of the financial burden for “a societal benefit as a whole.”
But if the lake continues to deteriorate, mandatory land use practices for farmers may be in the offing, ODNR’s Logan said. He said the U.S. EPA is looking into developing formal regulation of so-called “non-point source pollution” — the multiple sources of water pollution that can’t be traced to a particular farm, especially after a heavy rain.
Under current state and federal law, fines can only be imposed if run-off can be tracked to a particular farm. And while larger farms that raise livestock are required to seek permits governing their land use under USDA guidelines, smaller farms and those that grow only crops need no permits.
Tourism industry vs. farmers
Mandatory land use requirements, including buffer zones, would have to be approved by the Ohio General Assembly, setting up a political battle between the lake’s $160 million tourist industry and the region’s $675 million agricultural industry. Antosch said farmers don’t want mandatory requirements because they lose flexibility “and the need to address the issues on each individual’s property.”
Impatient with government efforts, local residents and business owners have raised a half-million dollars through the Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Initiative to explore new technologies that might alleviate the lake’s decline. They include the installation of two “Airy-Gators” to add oxygen to the lake and collection systems that will remove sediment and pump it to a disposal site. Both would have to be vastly enlarged to make a dent in the problem, said Robert Hiskey, a professor of freshwater science at Wright State University.
The Ohio EPA is considering at least one quick-fix possibility — applying alum to the lake. The chemical would bind with the excess phosphorous and drop it to the sediment where it could no longer feed the algae. The Ohio EPA’s private partner in the project, Tetra Tech Inc., is expected to release the results of a study and a treatment proposal sometime in the next several weeks, Ohio EPA officials said.
But state officials acknowledge the project may be too expensive — one application of alum may cost millions of dollars, according to preliminary estimates. And even if the alum drops the phosphorous to the lake bottom, winds could kick it up again, Hiskey said.
“I wish I could say the cavalry is around the corner,” Korleski of the Ohio EPA told a group of local community and business leaders meeting at the lake Tuesday. “Through partnerships and a lot of painful discussions, we will be able to solve this.”
But residents and business owners are angry that state agricultural and environmental officials allowed the lake to deteriorate to the point where it may take years to restore its water quality.
“I can see both sides of the coin — the farmers have got to make a living,” Rupert said. “But the land and water management practices here have got to change. This lake has become a toilet, and it needs to be flushed.”
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Toxic algae warning issued for Champaign County’s Kiser Lake
Posted: 10:26 a.m. Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Kiser Lake algae
The toxic algae that is now blooming in Kiser Lake
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Andrew Headlee, a maintenance worker at Kiser Lake State Park, posts a sign Tuesday on the beach warning people of the toxic algae in the water. State officials issued an public health advisory on Friday for the lake in Champaign County, recommending that visitors take caution when going to the lake.
By Allison Wichie
Staff Writer
State officials have issued a toxic algae bloom warning for Kiser Lake in Champaign County.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a public health advisory late last week after a bloom was spotted on the water, said Matt Eiselstein, spokesman for the department.
“The microcystin levels were high,” he said.
Levels of the toxic algae tested at 42 parts per million, according to the state’s July 10 testing records, seven times higher than the 6 parts per million level when the state issues a warning, Eiselstein said.
The rainy summer season could be behind the algae bloom, he said, but an official cause hasn’t been determined.
Agricultural runoff or faulty septic systems could be one of a number of factors that contributed to the bloom.
“We wouldn’t want to speculate how any of the nutrients made it into the water,” Eiselstein said.
The advisory warns that children, older people and those with sensitive immune systems shouldn’t swim in the water. But other activities such as fishing and boating aren’t affected by the warning, Eiselstein said.
“It’s just something we want people just to be aware of so they can make a good decision for their own family,” he said.
Some families stopped by the beach Tuesday and were surprised to see the warning signs posted.
“I was a little bit upset,” said Adessa Harris of Christiansburg. She brought her niece, nephew and daughters to swim in the lake.
“They were all excited to play but now we’ll just play in the sand and not go near the water,” she said.
Steve Phillips of Kenton fishes with his wife at the lake regularly and said he saw many swimmers at the beach over the weekend.
“If you see it, stay away from it,” Phillips said of the algae on the water.
The state re-tested the water over the weekend and on Monday, Eiselstein said.
The warning will be lifted once two tests of the water come back clear, he said, and the results of the last tests should be back by the end of the week.
Phillips said the algae bloom won’t stop him from fishing and enjoying his catch.
“I took home fish last night and served it to my twin grandsons and they ate it all,” he said.
And once the state lifts the swimming warning, Harris said she will bring her family back to enjoy the water.
Warning: Toxic algae at Grand Lake St. Marys
Posted: 12:20 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, 2015
News Staff
CELINA — State health officials are warning people to stay out of Grand Lake St. Marys after one person was sickened by increased toxin levels.
Red warning signs started doting the beaches and boat ramps late last week due to a harmful algae bloom in the water. Shelby County health officials reported a woman became suck after she spent time at Grand Lake St. Marys.
“You wouldn’t want to put your grandchildren in this water, would you? Not after you have a sign from the Ohio Department of Health saying, ‘Stop it!” said Bill Ringo, a member of Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys. “There’s a real tragedy going on here … people are losing the value of their homes, their quality of life. Here’s the middle of vacation, nobody’s using this lake.”
The state says too much rain and farmland runoff likely increased the lake’s levels of the microcystin toxin, which comes from a bacteria that causes the harmful algae.
“We’ve been at this for 15 years … and it’s not getting any better — it gets worse every year,” Ringo said.
Toxin levels on the lake recently ranged from 63 parts per billion to nearly 100 ppb. Health officials say contaminated water can start to pose health risks at 20 ppb.
Swallowing the water, swimming in it, even breathing in its mist can lead to rashes, blisters, severe diarrhea, vomiting and abnormal liver function.
The lake, though, remains open.
“I would jump in, right now,” said Christopher Wilson of Celina. “What water doesn’t potentially have the risk of making you sick?”
Daniel Reed, also of Celina, said he will continue to use the lake for recreation.
“I’m not going to go jump out in the middle of it — by no means — but when I get off the lake, I’m going to wash my boat off, and I’m going to take a shower, but, other than that, I’m not too worried about it,” Reed said.
The state spent more than $25 million on improvements over the past five years. The state natural resources department and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will test the water each week and share the levels with the health department to see whether further advisories are needed.
Toxic tap water causes state of emergency in Toledo
CBS/APAugust 2, 2014, 7:47 PM
TOLEDO, Ohio - Toxins possibly from algae on Lake Erie fouled the water supply of the state's fourth-largest city Saturday, forcing officials to issue warnings not to drink the water and the governor to declare a state of emergency as worried residents descended on stores, quickly clearing shelves of bottled water. "It looked like Black Friday," said Aundrea Simmons, who stood in a line of about 50 people at a pharmacy before buying four cases of water. "I have children and elderly parents. They take their medication with water." The city advised about 400,000 residents in Toledo, most of its suburbs and a few areas in southeastern Michigan not to brush their teeth with or boil the water because that would only increase the toxin's concentration. Toledo's health department also said healthy adults could safely bathe, wash their hands and shower. But while bathing, children should be supervised by adults to prevent drinking the water accidentally, according to CBS News affiliate WTOL. Also, residents should avoid giving tap water to pets. Toledo issued the warning just after midnight after tests at one treatment plant showed two sample readings for microsystin above the standard for consumption.
Algae blooms during the summer have become more frequent and troublesome around the western end of Lake Erie, the shallowest of the five Great Lakes. The algae growth is fed by phosphorous mainly from farm fertilizer runoff and sewage treatment plants, leaving behind toxins that have contributed to oxygen-deprived dead zones where fish can't survive. The toxins can kill animals and sicken humans.
Scientists had predicted a significant bloom of the blue-green algae this year, but they didn't expect it to peak until early September. Gov. John Kasich's emergency order issued Saturday allowed the state to begin bringing water into the Toledo area. Large containers were being filled with water at a prison near Columbus and trucked about 130 miles north to Toledo, said Joe Andrews, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The state also asked major grocery chains to divert as much water as they can to northwest Ohio, Andrews said. As truckloads of water came in from across the state, Toledo leaders set up distribution centers at schools around the city, limiting families to one case of bottled water. Some stores were receiving new shipments of water and putting limits on how much people can buy. "We're going to be prepared to make sure people are not without water," said Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins. He said the city hopes to know Saturday night how long the warning will stay in place, and he pleaded with residents not to panic. There were no reports yet of people becoming sick from drinking the water, Collins said. Sample of water were flown to the federal and state Environmental Protection Agency offices in Cincinnati and Columbus and a university in Michigan for additional testing, officials said. Police officers were called to stores as residents lined up to buy bottled water, bags of ice and flavored water. "People were hoarding it. It's ridiculous," said Monica Morales, who bought several cases of bottled water before the store sold out of water a half-hour after opening.