don't go near Lost Creek Lake it's toxic again - includes animals too

[donsu]

this info came from an email alert from RSOE HAVARIA Emergency and Disaster Informtion Service


Federal officials today advised people to avoid contact with Lost Creek Lake water until further notice because of an outbreak of a toxic algae similar to one last summer that steered people clear of the reservoir for four weeks. Tests completed Monday identified the presence of Anabaena flos-aquae, an algae that releases neurotoxins that can cause everything from a skin rash and dizziness to rapid death, though that is extremely rare. It is most threatening to children and pets, and it congregates in shallow, stagnant coves and along shorelines. In places like Catfish Cove, the algae was more than 100 times above state thresholds for issuing the advisory, officials said. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials recommended that visitors avoid water contact and practice catch-and-release fishing until the advisory is lifted, said Ron Howard, the Corps’ park manager at the Corps-built reservoir off Highway 62 in northeastern Jackson County. Swallowing or inhaling water droplets should be avoided, as well as skin contact with water by humans or animals. The toxins cannot be removed by boiling, filtering or treating water. The restrictions were not mandatory. The Corps plans to install signs warning of the advisory this afternoon at popular lake access points, Howard said. Protocols call for leaving the advisory in place until two weeks after the algae disappears, Howard said. The algae releases its toxins as it dies, so the extra time allows for the toxins to dissipate naturally, he said.
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[Tom Joad]

1. good thing its lost.

[hippiechick]

2. ... and this would be where, exactly ?

:shrug:

[donsu]

3. Oregon

nt

[NMDemDist2]

4. LOL truly truly. I know it's in the USA cuz of the Army corp mention

but there's a hell of a lot of Jackson Counties around LOL

[kestrel91316]

5. SHAMEFUL that pollution is allowed in this beautiful place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Creek_Lake

I assume agricultural runoff or partially treated sewage from local small cities is the problem?? Or is the water just getting TOO WARM because of that GW that doesn't exist?

Here's Anabaena:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaena

[dipsydoodle]

6. Not pollution

It's a natural occurence. Oxygenating the water with pumps is a sort of cure but I guess the lake is too big for that. Occurs naturally in some UK reservoirs.

edit = spelling dumb error.

[kestrel91316]

7. I srtongly suspect there is a new nitrogen source for the algae

that is allowing for this to happen. No way it's an ordinary thing for this lake (which is, admittedly, manmade).

Reason I say this is, I have studied the microbiology of water and sewage at the university level. Those algae LOVE nitrogen and get rather enthusiastic, shall we say, when it increases.

[EstimatedProphet]

8. There's all sorts of potential sources for nitrogen

And that's far from being the only limiting factor in an aquatic ecosystem.

Pollution is a possibility, but it's not possible yet to say that there is no way it could be otherwise.

[dipsydoodle]

9. I assumed it to be

blue-green algae. That's what we have issues with in parts of the UK in the complete absense of pollution or spurious sources of nitrogen compounds. The Queen Mother reservoir, on occasions, near Heathrow is a good example.

edit to correct reservoir name.

[EstimatedProphet]

10. True

Blue-green algae often pops up in large quantities without being due to nitrogen. Sometimes it will bloom heavily because the water temperature is just right for it.

[KT2000]

11. We have one of those too

Anderson Lake in WA state (Olympic Peninsula)
Second year of this problem.