Vermont systems monitor Lake Champlain water for algae

Hicks-Hudson emphasized that the microcystin toxin was detected about 3 miles out in the lake and has not been detected inside the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant, which treats the water for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.

Meanwhile, it will likely take a few days before local authorities know if there is a blue-green algae bloom in the water at Hillman Marsh Beach, a water quality scientist with the Essex Region Conservation Authority said Thursday afternoon. Last August the microcystin algal bloom disrupted the water supply for 400,000 people in Toledo and southeastern Michigan.

Vermont Toxicologist Sarah Vose says no contaminated drinking water has been found.

Some blue-green algaes are harmless, but others can produce toxins that can result in headaches, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting if water is swallowed. The toxin is known to have killed dogs and livestock. “A lot of people asked the question, could that happen here?”.

Scientists say this summer is shaping up to be a bad year for blue-green algae on Lake Champlain. “There have been a lot of blooms in a lot of places.

A severe toxic algae outbreak on the lake’s western end was forecast after heavy rains last month washed huge amounts of algae-feeding phosphorus into the lake.

Stormwater runoff can carry fertilizers from nearby farms into the lake, helping to fuel the algae blooms.

“That really shows the water treatment process is an effective one, ” Vose said.