A bloom of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, on Lake Champlain's Missisquoi Bay in 2011

If the weather during the rest of the summer remains hot and calm, this year may well be remembered as one of the worst for blue-green algae bloom in recent memory on Lake Champlain. That is too bad, because it means days of ruined beach visits, vacations when kids can’t go in the water and declines in income for lakeside businesses. But it could also cause a shift in attitude about what lake phosphorus pollution means, and how serious we are about dealing with it. And that would be a good result from a bad situation.

One of the interesting things about blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria as they are more accurately known, is that, unlike an invasive species or pollution by hazardous materials, they are normal inhabitants of land and water – and are nearly ubiquitous in some places. They become a problem, and a major one, when we cause the ecosystem to be out of balance. Otherwise, we would rarely think about them.

How do blue-geen algae become a problem? Under certain conditions, cyanobacteria explode into massive blooms. During the early stages of such a bloom, they look like pollen in the water and are easy to ignore. But as their volume increases, the blue-green algae can become a thick, paint-like mass that stacks up into white, blue and green froths, choking waterways, blocking sunlight, and, when they decompose, reducing the amount of oxygen in the water to dangerously low levels. Those conditions cause massive die-offs of fish and shellfish – and stinking piles of rotting algae along the shoreline.

Beyond all these problems, in such large volumes the cyanobacteria at times produce toxins which can sicken people and kill pets. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before people were familiar with the dangers of cyanobacteria blooms, dogs died from ingesting those toxins. In other parts of the country, people have become very sick as well, including U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member James Inhofe, who became ill in 2011 after he went swimming back in his district in Oklahoma. Inhofe, well-known for his opposition to much anti-pollution legislation, joked that the news story about his experience should bear the headline “the environment strikes back.”

So far this year, few blooms on Lake Champlain have reached the dense stage of development where they test positive for cyanotoxins. But parts of the lake that do not often have such blooms are now seeing cyanobacteria. Last year’s flooding from tropical storm Irene dumped record loads of phosphorus into Lake Champlain tributaries, providing the nutrients needed for blue-green algae populations to explode. And this dry, hot, calm summer has provided the right conditions for that population explosion to happen.

If people from those lake areas that are experiencing unprecedented blue-green blooms get together with those from other places – like St. Albans Bay and Missisquoi Bay where such blooms are almost yearly occurrences – we may be able to chart a different path and keep such problems from spreading any further.

With better farm management techniques, improved urban runoff systems and up-to-date sewage plants, we can prevent the otherwise inevitable spread of cyanobacteria to more places on Lake Champlain. If we can make that happen, this summer might go down in the books as not just the worst blue-green summer, but the summer in which things began to change for the better.

Last night, I sought refuge from the oppressive heat by taking a long swim in the cool, clean water of our local lake.  Families and young children packed the shallows where they found relief from record-breaking temperatures.  Floating along in this happy summer scene, I could not help but think of how fortunate we are to live in a country where our laws recognize that our happiness, our safety, and our economy depend on our ability to keep our water clean.

Thanks to the Clean Water Act, many waters are safe for swimming. Call your Senators to let them know you support this important law and want to ensure that all of our waters are safe for swimming, drinking, and fishing before it's too late.

In many places across the nation, the freedom to swim safely on a hot summer day was only a dream a generation ago when raw sewage and industrial pollution choked our nation’s waters.  Without the pollution controls and infrastructure investments required by the Clean Water Act and the work of groups like CLF to ensure that the law was being followed over the last forty years, water that is “drinkable, fishable, and swimmable” would still be beyond the reach of most Americans. Yet there remain many rivers, lakes, and bays from New England to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond where the Clean Water Act’s promise of water safe for recreation, drinking, and wildlife conservation have yet to be fulfilled.

POLLUTION CAN MAKE YOU “DEATHLY SICK”

Earlier this month, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe–one of the most anti-environmental members of Congress–received a stark reminder of how the dream of a swim on a hot summer day can quickly become a nightmare when we don’t have enough clean water.  Inhofe reported getting “deathly sick” from an upper respiratory illness he contracted when he swam in Oklahoma’s Grand Lake during a recent blue-green algae bloom caused by the combination of excess pollution and extreme heat. Fortunately, his 13 year-old granddaughter had the good sense not to join him in the illness-inducing swim.

Despite searing heat, swimmers stayed out of the slime-coated waters of Lake Champlain's St. Albans Bay most of last summer. Earlier this month, the Vermont Health Department warned swimmers about blue-green algae blooms that have appeared in the Bay again this summer.

From Vermont’s Lake Champlain to Cape Cod to Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay and in many lakes, rivers, and streams along the way, pollution from poorly-treated human waste and dirty runoff from streets, parking lots, and agricultural operations is feeding the growth of harmful blue-green algae of the sort that made Senator Inhofe feel “deathly sick.”  Added runoff from extreme rainfall events and hotter temperatures caused by global warming, will require even stronger clean water restoration and protection measures as we adapt in a changed climate.

THE CLEAN WATER ACT IS UNDER ATTACK

Sadly, some in Congress are attacking the EPA and the Clean Water Act, cynically attempting to free polluters of accountability under the false claim that pollution control is bad for the economy.  Click here to read about some of the “dirty water” bills being pushed through Congress by the Tea Party and some powerful Democrats who are in the pocket of the coal companies.

Twenty-eight years ago, the heavily-polluted Boston Harbor beaches were the poster children for the unfulfilled goals of the Clean Water Act.  Using enforcement tools under the Clean Water Act, CLF and U.S. EPA forced the beginning of a cleanup effort that many an overheated Bostonian can be grateful for as they head to the water this summer. The tremendous economic development that has occurred on the Boston waterfront as the water became cleaner is powerful proof that the Clean Water Act is a responsible and balanced tool for achieving many of society’s goals.  CLF and EPA are continuing the work under the Clean Water Act to ensure that Boston Harbor beaches remain safe for swimming and that citizens in upstream communities along the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset Rivers enjoy the same freedom to boat and swim without fear of becoming sick from pollution.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

As the U.S. Senate starts to consider the “dirty water” bills coming from the House, Senators are faced with a clear choice.  You can make a difference by calling or emailing your Senator and urging them to reject attempts to gut the Clean Water Act and weaken the EPA. Click here to find the phone number or email address for your Senator.  Join CLF in speaking up for clean water before it’s too late. 

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the “discovery” of Lake Champlain by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Of course the Lake’s been there for more than 400 years and de Champlain was certainly not its first human “discoverer.”  Putting aside the anthropological and historical debates, we here at CLF think it’s always a good time to celebrate the many important roles that water bodies such as Lake Champlain–one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country–play in our lives.

Phosphorus pollution causes blue-green algae blooms, like this one that appeared in Lake Champlain's Missisquoi Bay in 2007. (Image Source, Vermont Department of Health)

Alas, there hasn’t been much to celebrate when it comes to water quality in many parts of Lake Champlain that are plagued annually with “blooms” or “scums” of blue-green algae caused by excess phosphorus pollution.

This pollution comes from a variety of sources including manure and other agricultural wastes, polluted storm water runoff from parking lots, rooftops, streets, and other developed areas, and from sewage treatment plant discharges.

Last week, the Vermont Health Department posted its first health advisory of the summer, warning of blue-green algae sightings in Lake Champlain’s Missisquoi Bay, Shelburne Bay, and even traces of the scum were spotted in the water off Red Rocks Park–a popular swimming location in Burlington.

As the Health Department’s advisory warns, blue-green algae can do more than just make the water look nasty.  When blue-greens are blooming the Health Department advises as follows:

• Avoid contact with algae-contaminated water.
• Do not swim or bathe in the water. Remember that children are considered to be at higher risk because they are more likely to drink the water.
• Monitor water intakes for private residences. If you see algae present near the intake, switch to an alternate safe source of water.
• Do not use algae contaminated water to prepare meals or brush teeth. Boiling water will not remove toxins.
• Do not allow pets in algae-contaminated water.

While this depressing news can give lake lovers the blues, there is cause for hope.

Earlier this month, the Vermont Environmental Court struck down a permit issued by Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to the City of Montpelier’s sewage treatment plant, reasoning that the permit–which would have allowed the City to more than double its load of phosphorus pollution to Lake Champlain–violated the federal Clean Water Act.

This is a major victory for CLF and the Lake Champlain Lakekeeper in the broader efforts to reduce pollution in the lake at a time when Vermont is exceeding its legally-required pollution reduction targets by more than 100 metric tons each year. This news report does a good job of summarizing the decision, which can be read in full here.

Instead of redesigning the permit to actually decrease pollution as the Court has ordered, state lawyers have already started the process of appealing the decision to the Vermont Supreme Court (how sad is it that our tax dollars are funding a legal position that favors adding more pollution to a lake suffering from health-threatening algae blooms like those shown above???). I hope for a day when Vermont officials will follow the law without the need for a judge ordering them to.  Until that day comes, CLF will continue to fight for better pollution control permits that prevent pollution increases and help achieve rather than undermine the Clean Water Act’s goal of waters that are safe for swimming, fishing, and drinking.

It’s our way of trying to cure the blue-green algae blues.