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July 30, 2010 by admin.
Friday, July 30, 2010 12:42 PM
CELINA, Ohio - Gov. Ted Strickland announced today short- and long-term plans to deal with the toxic algae choking Grand Lake St. Marys.
One involves treating the polluted lake. The other would require farmers in the area to control manure that runs off their land and eventually into the lake.
During the presentation, which lasted about an hour, a number of people in the crowd yelled at Strickland, telling him they want the problems at the lake fixed now.
The first step, Strickland said, […]
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July 30, 2010 by admin.
Submitted by brian on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 2:20pm
newsdate:
Fri, 07/30/2010
Action plan announced for Grand Lake St. Marys - VIEW THE PLAN
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today, joined by several state agency directors, announced both short- and long-term action plans to help restore Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio’s largest inland lake.
The governor announced the State’s latest efforts to assist the area from the Wright State University Lake Campus, and he and the directors emphasized the action plan can only be implemented thanks to the good partnerships the State has developed with the local community and the federal government.
“We know that our businesses and families have struggled with the loss of activity at the lake this summer. This crisis has been generations in the making, and it will take all of us working together to try to restore this lake to health and prosperity,” Strickland said. “This action plan provides a clear direction forward, and I want to thank this community for working with us as we all search for ways to bring this lake back to health.”
The State’s action plan focuses on the two main issues negatively impacting the water quality of Grand Lake St. Marys — internal and external loading. Grand Lake St. Marys contains an excessive amount of reactive phosphorus which is continually recycled (internal loading). Cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) absorb the phosphorus as they grow, which contributes to the growth (or blooms) of cyanobacteria. External loading is the continual addition of phosphorus to the lake from external sources in the watershed. Addressing both these issues is critical to efforts to restore the lake.
“Less than one month ago Director Logan and I visited the community and listened to the concerns of the local residents. We emphasized the State would not be idle, and today’s release of the action plan represents our continued commitment to the community and the improvement of the lake,” said Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski.
The action plan includes two kinds of in-lake treatment demonstration projects focused on the internal loading issue. The first, called “alum treatment,” will be performed in a discrete area of the lake, approximately 20-40 acres in size. Ohio EPA will supply the necessary funding (approximately $250,000) to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through the 319 subgrant program. The demonstration sites will be chosen during August 2010 with actual treatment targeted to begin in September 2010. Whole lake application will only be considered following the completion of the demonstration projects. Also, the plan recommends reviewing the current small-scale algae flipping pilot project currently underway to determine if a larger-scale project is possible. If feasible, the larger-scale project (approximately $25,000) will be funded by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“The department understands the seriousness of this problem and stands ready to help the local community in any way possible,” said Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Robert Boggs. “We are hopeful that the algae pilot project, funded by the department, will provide positive impacts to the region.”
The action plan also includes many items focused on addressing the external loading issues. Action items include promoting improvements to manure hauling practices, limiting phosphorus discharges from Wastewater Treatment plans within the watershed, and educating local homeowners on septic systems and lawn management practices.
Also, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will seek legislative support for additional state regulatory authority which would restrict manure application during the winter and the requirement for farms with more than 350 tons of manure annually to develop a nutrient management plan.
“Grand Lake St. Marys is a shared resource with shared responsibilities for its health,” said ODNR Director Sean Logan. “We look forward to working with legislators, federal and local agencies, individual landowners, and citizen groups to implement these actions to improve the lake’s water quality and the community’s economic prospects.”
Also included is a continued focus on protecting human health with weekly sampling by Ohio EPA and the posting of those results for the public. Also, Ohio EPA and the Ohio Department of Health will request that the federal government develop national standards for the additional toxins which have been found in Grand Lake St. Marys, such as anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin and saxitoxin.
“These recommendations will go a long way in protecting the health of the public and in restoring a safe and healthy lake for families to enjoy for years to come,” said ODH Director Alvin D. Jackson, M.D.
Grand Lake St. Marys straddles the Auglaize-Mercer County line and covers nearly 13,500 acres. Constructed in the mid-1800’s to store water for the Miami-Erie Canal, the lake was established as one of the first state parks in 1949. Over the years, Great Lake St. Marys has been a popular recreational lake for boating, fishing and swimming. It is also the drinking water supply for the city of Celina, which has a population of approximately 10,000. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources maintains a campground, three public beaches and several picnic areas at a state park along the lake.
For additional information on the action plan, go to: www.epa.ohio.gov/portals/47/citizen/GLSMactionplan.pdf
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July 30, 2010 by admin.
Ohio governor unveiling plans to clean polluted lake
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July 30, 2010 by admin.
| WHIO Local News |
John Bedell
@ July 30, 2010 6:30 AM
CELINA, Ohio – The Jenkins family is hoping their story may be a red flag for their neighbors around Grand Lake St. Mary’s.
The Jenkins’ lost their beloved pet and their husband and father is so ill that he was hospitalized for days with partial numbness and blindness.
Doctors say they believe this is the first case of human illness that has been caused by […]
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July 29, 2010 by admin.
By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 1:15 AM Thursday, July 29, 2010 CELINA, Mercer County — Engineering man-made wetlands along small creeks could help heal the waters at Grand Lake St. Marys, state officials say.
If a demonstration project scheduled to begin on Prairie Creek this fall is successful, it could prove a way forward to restoring the health of the 13,500-acre lake where a tourism industry worth up to $200 million annually is being crushed by a cyanobacteria outbreak.
Wetlands are nature’s kidneys for their ability to filter and naturally treat polluted waters. The idea is to recreate wetlands and restore a more natural, slower water flow where creeks on the south shore feed Grand Lake.
The creeks — Prairie, Beaver, Coldwater, Chickasaw and Little Chickasaw — drain a watershed with the state’s highest livestock concentration.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed $500,000 in federal grant funds to […]
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July 25, 2010 by STATEOHIO.
There has been people of this community who have become very ill from the coming in contact with the lake’s “green slime”. They symptoms did not manafest themselves until almost a month after contact. Symptoms were blurred vision, numbess and weakness, dizziness, headache and others. The sad part is they say it is viral so it just has to work its course. Who knows what the course will be or what the lasting effects will be. It’s hard to fight something when you don’t know exactly what you are fighting against. This is crazy to think that they want to lift the ban on the lake. It cant be safe to be on. State workers have said there has been several dogs found dead along the lake also and one of our area dogs that swam in the lake often came out of the lake covered in the “slime” his owner washed him and symptoms appeared around one month later on the owner and the dog. The dog died! The state or EPA has to find a resolution and need to relay the magnitude of the lakes toxens. Now I also have to wonder how safe is the drinking water or the water we bath in. I have little children who take baths how safe is the water? I think we deserve the truth and some answers before more animals die and our community members become very ill.
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July 25, 2010 by admin.
For the past two years, toxins have been found in the lake, caused by algae primarily from phosphorous in farm and private property runoff, and warnings have gone up to avoid contact with the water. Unfortunately, fish and waterfowl are found floating in blue-green scum in channels and on beaches.
The sisters have no plans to move, though. “There’s no resale value on lakefront homes now,” said Sandy, “so we’ll sit on our cesspool and watch the algae grow.
“It never should have been allowed to get this way. The state spends millions advertising for Ohioans to stay in Ohio for their vacations, but ignored the state of its vacation spots.”
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July 25, 2010 by admin.
An Ohio lake is so toxic that it’s turned green. Some argue that the fix could do more harm than good. (more)
By Rick Reitzel
Published: July 23, 2010
CELINA, Ohio –
A local company, Lambda Bioremediation Systems has a plan to eliminate the toxic Blue-Green algae from Grand Lake St. Marys.
“Our single-cell organism is all natural and eliminates the food source (phosphorus) of algae,” said Gary Harkey, spokesperson for Lambda.
The product has been used …
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