Lake Erie’s algae woes
building for a decade ADVERTISING Lake Erie’s algae woes
building for a decade TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The toxins that contaminated the drinking water supply of 400,000 people in northwest Ohio didn’t just suddenly appear. Water plant operators
Lake Erie’s algae woes
building for a decade
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The toxins that contaminated the drinking water supply of 400,000 people in northwest Ohio didn’t just suddenly appear.
Water plant operators along western Lake Erie have long been worried about this very scenario as a growing number of algae blooms have turned the water into a pea soup color in recent summers, leaving behind toxins that can sicken people and kill pets.
In fact, the problems on the shallowest of the five Great Lakes brought on by farm runoff and sludge from sewage treatment plants have been building for more than a decade.
While residents around Ohio’s fourth-largest city were being told to avoid drinking tap water for a second day, discussion began to center around how to stop the pollutants fouling the lake that supplies drinking water for 11 million people.
“People are finally waking up to the fact that this is not acceptable,” Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins said.
City and state officials monitoring the water were waiting for a new set of samples to be analyzed Sunday before determining whether the water was safe.
“This is not over yet,” said Collins, who said some samples have showed decreased levels of toxins in the water.
Toledo officials warned residents not to use city water early Saturday after tests at one treatment plant showed readings for microcystin above the standard for consumption, most likely because of the algae.
Drinking the water could cause vomiting, cramps and rashes. Health officials advised children and those with weak immune systems to avoid showering or bathing in the water.
Worried residents told not to drink, brush their teeth or wash dishes with the water descended on truckloads of bottled water delivered from across the state as the governor declared a state of emergency. The Ohio National Guard was using water purification systems to produce drinkable water.
Northeast California fire destroys 8 homes
BURNEY, Calif. (AP) — A pair of wildfires burning without restraint about 8 miles apart in northeast California became the focus of state and federal firefighters Sunday as authorities reported that one of the blazes had destroyed eight homes and prompted the precautionary evacuation of a small long-term care hospital.
The two fires, among 14 burning in the state, started within a day of each other in Lassen National Forest and had expanded into private property and scorched 90 square miles as of Sunday morning, up from 39 square miles a day earlier.
The more destructive of the two was threatening the town of Burney, where officials at Mayer Memorial Hospital decided to evacuate their 49-bed annex for patients with dementia and other conditions requiring skilled nursing. The patients were transferred to a hospital in Redding, about 55 miles away, the hospital reported on its website.
The Shasta County sheriff had Burney on an evacuation watch after ordering residents of three small neighboring communities to leave on Saturday night. Sgt. John Greene said the area is sparsely populated and that authorities did not yet know how many residents were affected or if the destroyed homes were vacation houses or permanent dwellings.
Evacuations also remained in effect for a community on the edge of the second fire, which was sparked by lightning Wednesday.
The two blazes were among 14 that federal, state and local fire crews were tackling on Sunday in central and Northern California, state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Dennis Mathisen said.
Together, they have consumed more than 183 square miles of timber and brush left parched by the state’s extended drought, Mathisen said, adding that the coming week promises not to be any easier.
