Algal outbreak
State conducting further tests to determine scope of harmful algal outbreak
Part of Lake George has been covered by harmful bacteria for days.
In a troubling sign for one of America’s most storied and pristine lakes, part of Lake George has been covered by harmful bacteria for several days.
For years, residents and regulators around the historic resort destination, known as the Queen of American Lakes, have worried that worsening water quality would bring toxic outbreaks or “blooms” of cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as harmful algal blooms. On Monday, the state confirmed one on Lake George after it was discovered by the nonprofit Lake George Association.
The bloom spread out around Assembly Point and moved through several bays on the south end of the lake near the village of Lake George, and was dissipating on Tuesday.
“It’s a wake-up call for us,” said the lake association’s executive director, Walter Lender. “It really lets people know that Lake George is not immune to these.”
So far, Lake George remains relatively clear, despite years of worries that it is losing some of its famed clarity and quality.
Cyanobacteria has soured other lakes in the region, including Lake Champlain, where property values in some of the worst areas have been hurt. This week, a harmful algal bloom also appeared in Mirror Lake, in downtown Lake Placid. The bloom appears to be the first documented bloom on Mirror Lake, according to Brendan Wiltse, the director of water quality research at the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute. Kathy Bozony, an environmental consultant who has taken thousands of un
derwater photographs in the lake, said she has seen underwater algal blooms for years.
Those blooms don’t show up in state records like blooms on the surface do. Nevertheless, she has documented cyanobacteria covering rocks, docks and the intake pipes used to bring the water into lakeside homes for drinking.
“It’s pretty scary thinking that it’s their drinking water going through that,” Bozony said.
The type of cyanobacteria found in both Lake George and Mirror Lake is Dolichospermum, which may produce several kinds of toxins that damage the kidneys, liver or nervous system.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Lake George residents were still awaiting tests to know if those toxins were present in Lake George. A bloom can be labeled harmful without being toxic. Likewise, there can be toxins in the water that are not discovered or labeled as a harmful bloom.
There are no plans to test the Mirror Lake bloom for toxins, because it’s not a drinking water source, though the toxins can hurt pets and livestock. Wiltse said the main concern is for pet owners along Mirror Lake.
On Tuesday, the state warned that people who drink water from Lake George shouldn’t during a bloom. Boiling it doesn’t remove the toxins.
November is late for algal blooms. They can occur any time of year, but most appear in late summer or early fall. Both blooms could be caused by recent warm weather, or because the lakes are starting natural seasonal water shifts that can lift bacteria and their food to the surface.
The harmful bloom on Lake George is likely to set off a new push to regulate the septic systems that are leaking into the lake.
About 6,000 homes and businesses send their sewage into septic systems. About 4,000 of those systems are at risk of contaminating the lake because they are old or neglected, according to research by the nonprofit Fund for Lake George. One estimate suggests more than 200 million gallons of sewage are leaking out of septic systems near the lake each year. The lake holds 550 billion gallons of water.