| The Detroit News | - |
The
suspected culprit of Toledo's water crisis is an algal bloom, a giant,
malodorous toxin that's caused in part by agricultural pollution and has
bedeviled Lake Erie for years.
August 4, 2014 at 1:00 am
'No quick fix' for algal bloom
Researchers blame fertilizer runoff, climate for crisis
Assistant
fire chief Dave Gardner sits behind bottled water donated by Absopure
for distribution to residents at the Luna Pier fire station in Luna
Pier, Mich. on Aug. 3, 2014. Four Monroe County communities should not
use their water until given the all clear due to toxins in the Toledo
water distribution system. (Robin Buckson / The Detroit News)
The suspected culprit of Toledo’s water
crisis is an algal bloom, a giant, malodorous toxin that’s caused in
part by agricultural pollution and has bedeviled Lake Erie for years.
The
crisis has affected 400,000 people in northern Ohio and 30,000
households in southeast Michigan. Researchers largely blame the algae's
resurgence on manure and chemical fertilizer from farms that wash into
the lake along with sewage treatment plants.
The
blooms were a big problem in the 1960s and have returned with a
vengeance in Lake Erie in the past few years. In 2011, scientists
recorded about 1,900 square miles of algal blooms in the Great Lakes.
They’ve also been detected in the Saginaw Bay and Green Bay as well as
several inland lakes.
“There is no quick
fix to this problem, ” said Dave Davison, mayor of Luna Pier, one of
four Monroe County communities advised not to drink tap water it
receives from Toledo.
Since
late July, Luna Pier residents have been complaining of a strong odor
coming from the lake, particularly on Harold Drive between Ann and North
Sixth streets. The mayor brought in Monroe County environmental health
officials to inspect the shoreline. The odor was coming from
decomposition of the algae lying on the beach.
Recent
satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration show a concentrated algae bloom right where Toledo draws
its water.
The contamination was a surprise
because the bloom is usually near the surface of the lake, and Toledo
gets its water from near the bottom, said Gary Fahnenstiel, a research
scientist at the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability
Institute.
Lake Erie is susceptible to
algal blooms because of climate change, increased storms and zebra
mussels that alter the composition of the water, he said. It’s the
shallowest of the five Great Lakes and is less prone to flowing water,
making it vulnerable to problems caused by farm runoff or sludge from
treatment facilities.
“It’s simply not one
thing,” said Fahnenstiel, a former NOAA scientist. “A lot of factors
come together to have a bloom like this, and we should view this as an
event like a hurricane or a storm. I wouldn’t be worried.”
Weather
conditions made it such that bloom was “going right into the water
intakes,” said Jeff Reutter, head of the Ohio Sea Grant research lab.
Is Toledo’s problem a wake-up call?
“Yes,”
said Don Scavia, director of U-M’s Graham institute, wrote in an email.
“While other factors, like climate and zebra and quagga mussels appear
to have changed the susceptibility of the system
,
the primary driver is the amount of phosphorus entering the lake from
the agriculturally dominated watersheds. The most protective thing that
can be done is to reduce those river loads.”
,
the primary driver is the amount of phosphorus entering the lake from
the agriculturally dominated watersheds. The most protective thing that
can be done is to reduce those river loads.”
Scavia also pointed out the algal bloom is not uniform across the lake, so the impact won’t necessarily spread.
A recent study
by the Ohio government found Lake Erie received the most phosphorous of
any of the Great Lakes, about 44 percent of the total of all the lakes.
About two-thirds of that phosphorous came from agricultural land,
according to the report.
by the Ohio government found Lake Erie received the most phosphorous of
any of the Great Lakes, about 44 percent of the total of all the lakes.
About two-thirds of that phosphorous came from agricultural land,
according to the report.Twitter: LouisAguilar_DN
Detroit News staff writer Joel Kurth and Associated Press contributed.
end quote from:
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140804/METRO06/308040019#ixzz39OqIjFwz
No comments:
Post a Comment