Toxic algae's return a blow to businesses | The Columbus Dispatch

This time three years ago, Bill Goodwin's Kozy Kampground drew a sizable waiting list of tourists seeking fishing, boating and camping on Grand Lake St.

[DrC Ohio]

Maybe the state ought to get serious about cleaning it up. Manage the farmers because they can't manage themselves.

[pet owner]

This stuff is nasty and a serious risk to pets as well. Our neighbor's 5 year old chocolate lab died after eating the algae that they pulled off of the water. Please be careful.

[awmbyars]

The article said that the manure was coming from nearby farms. Are these farms where the animals graze on pasture, where manure benefits the soil, or are they factory farms, where piles of manure are a toxic problem? I think I know the answer.

[nmetro]

One has to think that there is some giant corporate livestock farm which is more than likely allowing their animal waste to he straight for the lake. Seems strange that this problem only started three years ago. What changed? This is what the OEPA should be looking at. A beautiful like gone foul.

Oh, wait a minute, the budget for the OEPA has been cut. State employees have been cut. Remember Senate Bill 5? Wait further, this is government interference, and socialism, to find the culprit, fine them and have them fix the issue. Wait further, government will get in the way of business, we can't have that. But, it hoped those who received their tax cuts and laxer regulations are happy.

Yes folks, government is bad, too big, too expensive and too intrusive, until you need government to fix something. Something to think about in the next election cycle.

[wakeup]

Skim it... Package it... Ship it to Lake Erie Biofuels in Erie, PA. Make money... Save money and tourism... Run all state diesel engines on biofuel then we don't have to drill for Oil in A FRESH WATER SOURCE and ruin our most precious resource! Its not any more toxic than additives already shipped and dumped in our rivers everyday. Which can a human do without, water or gas? Seems to me we have enough hot air.

[redharedgrl]

only an idiot would think the algae wouldnt return..and why rnt the locals p1ssed off at the farms responsible??????

there should be some serious midnight raids going on.

[FreeloaderFred]

Toxic algae is costing the state more than the expense of eradicating it.
It is costing sales tax income, income tax income, and property tax income.
The locals have reduced property taxes. They have fewer sales of goods and services. Their property is worth less. They have fewer opportunities to make an income when the lake is idle.
Oh well, I guess it is more important not to clean up the source of the pollution that is causing the toxic algae problem to start with.

[woke]

I remember the dispatch and kasich SMEARING Strickland and making this a huge campaign issue for NW Ohio, yet this problem has been there for a long time and laws and EPA solutions have always been there also if the locals wanted to insure implementation.

Just google "Grand Lake EPA solutions" and have a read or two.

[Darb153]

Kasich said we don't need to regulate the farms that pollute. He said we just have to do it like in olden days, put the polluters in stocks in the town square and throw rotten food at them. This is who ohio chose for governor.

[GeoWill]

I'm sorry, but the farmers take precedence here. You let the envirofaglibbies start setting the rules and farmers will have to let the pigs live in the farm house and sing "Kum-By-Ya" to them every night.

Besides, there isn't a scintilla of evidence that farmers have anything to do with this - algae is natural in the lake. It is like global warming - just because some limp-wristed hollywood stars believe it doesn't make it science!

I say leave nature to her own devices - she'll clean it up eventually. Dumping lime just wastes taxpayer money and pollutes the lake more. No tax money should be spent on this!

[GeoWill]

Darb153 wrote:

Kasich said we don't need to regulate the farms that pollute. He said we just have to do it like in olden days, put the polluters in stocks in the town square and throw rotten food at them. This is who ohio chose for governor.

There is no scientific proof that farms have anything to do with this. Just democrat liberal america-hating, business-hating propaganda.

[redharedgrl]

GeoWill wrote:

<quoted text>
There is no scientific proof that farms have anything to do with this. Just democrat liberal america-hating, business-hating propaganda.

"Fed by phosphorus in manure washed off nearby farms, blue-green algae grew so thick last summer that the state warned people not to touch the water, take boats out on the lake or eat any fish caught there."

ur brother's twice as smart as u r and he's a half wit..

[DrC Ohio]

GeoWill wrote:

<quoted text>
There is no scientific proof that farms have anything to do with this. Just democrat liberal america-hating, business-hating propaganda.

and evolution is part of that propaganda too I suppose...

[elizadoolittle]

...... breach the dam ...... Goodbye algae.

[woke]

GeoWill wrote:

<quoted text>
There is no scientific proof that farms have anything to do with this. Just democrat liberal america-hating, business-hating propaganda.

Streams in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed are
impaired primarily by high levels of nutrients from livestock
and row crop agriculture.
Residential use of lawn and garden fertilizers, failing
septic systems and other sources are among other,
smaller sources.

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/portals/47/citizen...

Science is our friend.

Did you know that namecalling, smearing and insulting others are not arguments and in fact show that you have NO argument at all?

[Curious]

redharedgrl wrote:

only an idiot would think the algae wouldnt return..and why rnt the locals p1ssed off at the farms responsible??????
there should be some serious midnight raids going on.

The land around the lake has been farmed for YEARS! The blame does not rest solely On the farmers. Over the years livestock being raised on the farms around the lake have decreased. Chemicals that the farmers use over the years has changed with all the regulations. Population has grown tremendously. New subdivisions built, resulting on more septic systems. Also, many homes around the lake, especially homes on the channels, have lawn companies treat their yards. Those chemicals run off into the lake! Their are a multitude of things that attribute to the algae in the lake. I grew up on that lake. The water has never been clean. I big mucky mess. You couldn't pay me enough to ever get in that lake. Also, when they built the new spillway it caused problems!

Farmers should not be blamed for all the problems of the lake. Next thing you know, someone will start blaming all those nasty geese. I mean, they poop everywhere!!!

[lakerat]

I seriously doubt that livestock numbers are down in the watershed, I've heard the opposite. The new subdivisions are on city sewers, and most home owners do not have fertilizer spilling into the lake. It is coming from the fields, and the farmers know it. Some just don't care. I saw many spraying manure this winter on top of six inches of snow in the fields, when it was also raining, melting, and flooding. The feeders from the fields were just dumping it into the lake. One got caught and fined (something pathetic like $150)and just shrugged it off when interviewed. A problem is that this is a huge agricultural area, and it has a lot of influence ($) with the government.

One thing that did change a few years ago, was that a local company in the watershed had a contract to haul waste from the "savior" ethanol plant in Lima. Trucks were running non-stop from Lima and bringing all of that waste back into the watershed. It was either treated or not (I don't remember what they claimed or if it mattered) and dumped on farm fields that drain into the lake. There was a horrible chemical smell in the air while it was going on (I smelled it numerous times). After many complaints, the EPA was quoted in one or both of our local papers (The Evening Leader or The Daily Standard). In the article they stated something about not knowing for sure what effects the waste would have, but pretty sure it was harmless. This was, I think, the year before the algae problem.

I wish I could find the article, because the EPA quote was unlike one you would normally hear from the normally over-cautious EPA, but then again, it was dealing with the big enviro-scam that is ethanol. I'm not saying that it helped caused this mess, but it sure seems suspicious, and who knows what was in that waste and how much made it in the lake. Phosphorus?

The last couple winters seem to have been colder with the lake being frozen longer. I know the water in the spring has been much clearer than I ever remember it being. Clearer water, more light gets through and helps the stuff bloom.

Something has changed, and it is probably in combination with weather factors to make it so much worse the past few years.

[lakerat]

Oh, and the new spillway could be contributing. Not nearly as much water appears to be flowing out the east-bank spillway, as it all seems to go through the new fixed-height, west-bank spillway. Maybe it doesn't drain as well as it used to (which it was never very efficient at re-circulating water).

[woke]

lakerat wrote:

I seriously doubt that livestock numbers are down in the watershed, I've heard the opposite. The new subdivisions are on city sewers, and most home owners do not have fertilizer spilling into the lake. It is coming from the fields, and the farmers know it. Some just don't care. I saw many spraying manure this winter on top of six inches of snow in the fields, when it was also raining, melting, and flooding. The feeders from the fields were just dumping it into the lake. One got caught and fined (something pathetic like $150)and just shrugged it off when interviewed. A problem is that this is a huge agricultural area, and it has a lot of influence ($) with the government.
One thing that did change a few years ago, was that a local company in the watershed had a contract to haul waste from the "savior" ethanol plant in Lima. Trucks were running non-stop from Lima and bringing all of that waste back into the watershed. It was either treated or not (I don't remember what they claimed or if it mattered) and dumped on farm fields that drain into the lake. There was a horrible chemical smell in the air while it was going on (I smelled it numerous times). After many complaints, the EPA was quoted in one or both of our local papers (The Evening Leader or The Daily Standard). In the article they stated something about not knowing for sure what effects the waste would have, but pretty sure it was harmless. This was, I think, the year before the algae problem.
I wish I could find the article, because the EPA quote was unlike one you would normally hear from the normally over-cautious EPA, but then again, it was dealing with the big enviro-scam that is ethanol. I'm not saying that it helped caused this mess, but it sure seems suspicious, and who knows what was in that waste and how much made it in the lake. Phosphorus?
The last couple winters seem to have been colder with the lake being frozen longer. I know the water in the spring has been much clearer than I ever remember it being. Clearer water, more light gets through and helps the stuff bloom.
Something has changed, and it is probably in combination with weather factors to make it so much worse the past few years.

Actually, I posted the link so anyone interested could read the ENTIRE report. Just because I posted a paragraph from just the first page, doesn't mean that was the complete focus of my post.

Thanks for your informational post. I do hope Lake St. Marys eventually gets right....I remember spending many childhood reunions and Sundays there enjoying the park and swimming in the lake.

I believe it will take some cooperation by all involved and some direction from our govt....the regulations are in place.....what is needed is some consequences.

I value farmers also. I value them more than reagan did when he allowed banks to FORECLOSE on many, many family farmers during the 80's, leaving mostly only very large farms AND corporate agribusiness in the place of the 80-100 acre farmers who practiced more earth friendly, crop rotational farming. Those older style family farms are what could be turned into organic and more healthful, less chemical, less food engineering and safer sources of food for us. But alas, most are long gone and it's all about Monsanto and other chemical companies now.

[lakerat]

Here is the article from Nov. of 2008. Next summer, we had the algae bloom. The EPA spokeswoman says it is new science and they are not sure how long it takes to absorb in soil. Hmmmmmm...

http://www.theeveningleader.com/content/view/...