“Great Lake Swimmers’ Ballad Of A Fisherman’s Wife was written after hearing, with great dismay, news about the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Most striking and heart-felt to me were the sentiments of outrage from those who made their living in and along these waters, especially the fishermen, and especially their wives. I wanted to comment on this ongoing crisis from that very specific viewpoint,” says singer-songwriter Tony Dekker.

Dekker’s music has been featured on the Swim Drink Fish Music website throughout the month of August. The Swim Drink Fish Music Club is an online music and audio experience. Developed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper with Ottawa Riverkeeper, and Fraser Riverkeeper, SDFM brings artists together with activists and citizens to celebrate exclusive and rare music while creating swimmable, drinkable, fishable futures for their communities. We have proudly worked with founding artists including Broken Social Scene, Bruce Cockburn, Dave Bidini, Gord Downie, Pete Seeger, Sarah Harmer, Stars, and Canadian producer Chris Brown.

“This latest release offers Club members a moving insight into the lives of people who are intimately connected to our fragile waterbodies. It also chronicles some of the greatest themes of our era: hardship, perseverance, and love. I hope our friends in the Gulf find strength that, even in this terrible time, others are watching, finding inspiration, and applauding their efforts,” says Mark Mattson, president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Club co-founder.

A Swim Drink Fish Music annual membership is $10. It provides unlimited access to the entire website and catalogue for one year. Members can download the songs, play them on any portable music device, and keep the music forever. For more information, please visit: www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com and www.greatlakeswimmers.com.

If you are already a member of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and want to claim your complimentary website access, send us an email. Media subscriptions are also available via email.

Dangerous algae blooms were first discovered two weeks ago at several points along the river, including Kingston Mills, Upper and Lower Brewer’s Locks, Joyceville Institution and the lower Cataraqui.

“The results from some of these locations are well above the drinking water objective,” said Brian Kaye, the environment ministry’s district supervisor for Kingston.

Tests conducted by the Ministry of the Environment last week confirmed the presence of microcystin, but further analysis was required to determine the exact quantity.

Provincial guidelines establish 1.5 micrograms per litre as the maximum acceptable level of microcystin.

The Kingston Mills outbreak had a concentration of 21.34 mcg/L, more than 14 times over the safe limit.

The algae blooms at Upper Brewer’s Locks had a concentration of 19.5 mcg/L and the Lower Locks clocked in at 4.6 mcg/L.

Though it was reported last week that officials were unable to take samples from the Brewer’s Locks location before the algae vanished, Kaye said that the ministry was able to obtain earlier samples from Parks Canada workers.

The numbers from the Joyceville Institution and the lower Cataraqui were unavailable.

Though the numbers appear intimidating, Kaye reaffirmed that municipal drinking water systems will not be affected.

“This doesn’t change our response,” said Kaye. “It doesn’t change things at all.”

The outbreaks are limited and have not spread to other locations. In some cases, the blooms have already disappeared.

“There have been no new complaints since the previous incidents last week,” said Kaye.

Only residents who depend on surface water wells in areas near an outbreak are at risk.

“You should also find a new water source if you depend on a contaminated area for drinking water,” Ed Gardner, public health environmental manager, said in an interview last week.

Gardner added that it is important for recreational water users to be aware of the risk and to curtail their activity in areas where the algae has been spotted.

The recent spate of outbreaks along the Cataraqui River is part of the seasonal cycle of blue-green algae blooms.

“They tend to appear in late summer,” said Kaye, “and I expect we will be seeing a few more cases before the fall.”

“They’re fairly common,” he said. “They tend to come and go.”

Though it might appear as if incidents of toxic blue-green algae are on the rise, Kaye pointed out that much of it has to do with higher rates of reporting from a better educated public.

“As people are more informed, they recognize the algae and we can do something about it,” said Kaye.

“For the Kingston area, the incidence rate is in keeping with previous years,” he said.

Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, is identifiable by its soupy appearance and pungent aroma.

If a swimmer comes into contact with the algae, they can suffer from rashes, fever and vomiting.

Pets are especially at risk from the algae. They are less deterred by the smell and their size makes them more susceptible to the toxins.

Blue-green algae thrives in slow-moving warm water where run-off from human activity provides it with the phosphorus and nitrogen it needs to survive.

If a blue-green algae bloom is spotted, you should contact the Ministry of the Environment Spills Action Centre at 1-800- 268-6060.

via Toxic algae blooms far exceed safe levels – The Whig Standard – Ontario, CA.

Since it appeared two months ago at the Purdy water access about 11 km north of Hwy. 401 out Hwy. 38, the aquatic terror has driven animals away from the area and pestered Staniforth and his family with its noxious fumes and putrid smell.

“We couldn’t go outside, couldn’t open windows, couldn’t turn on our air conditioning,” said Staniforth. “The smell was just awful.”

Staniforth called the Cataraqui River Conservation Authority for help in doing away with the growing, globular monstrosity.

Watershed specialists were able to identify the threat. Fortunately, the culprit wasn’t something out of a science fiction novel but an enormous buildup of filamentous algae.

The algae is common in Canada’s waterways and often joins together to form long green threads, or filaments.

After a large chunk of loose land bottlenecked the creek in late May, the algae accumulated at an alarming rate. When filamentous algae decomposes, especially in large quantities, it produces a very unpleasant odour.

“The smell is worse than a couple of dead animals on the side of the road rotting for a month,” he said.

“It got to the point where even my dog wouldn’t go outside,” Staniforth said. “My neighbour thought something had died in her backyard.”

“We were trapped inside during the worst weeks of the heat wave in June.”

Seeing algae blooms float down the river is nothing new, said Staniforth, but the blockage has changed all that.

“We’ve been living here 13 years,” he said, “and this is the first time anything like this has happened.”

The late summer attack is part of a growing number of algae-related problems experienced around Kingston this summer.

An outbreak of blue-green algae in the Cataraqui River has released dangerous levels of the toxin microcystin into the water.

Filamentous algae is not toxic, but it has done more than enough to poison Staniforth’s summer.

“Normally there’s all kinds of canoeists and kayakers along the creek,” said Staniforth. “Dads used to bring their kids out for their first fishing trip, but there’s only been a few this year.”

The algae has also driven away most of the animal life in the area. Staniforth used to see deer, otters, swans and beavers along the banks of the creek, but he hasn’t seen any since the algae started to pile up.

“Hopefully, they come back in the fall,” he said.

Staniforth, who is a pensioner on disability, has appealed several times to the conservation authority for assistance, but to no avail.

“I called and they told me it was a natural phenomenon and there’s nothing they can do about it,” he said.

“There isn’t anyone who has the money to maintain open water through a blocked channel,” said Mara Shaw, the watershed management co-ordinator for the conservation authority. “It’s the same as with a beaver dam. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

Shaw said that conservation officials had visited Staniforth’s creek and determined that the algae posed no threat to the area.

“Filamentous algae is not a health problem,” she said. “It looks different from blue-green algae, too.”

Filamentous algae forms big globs of green gunk, whereas blue-green algae looks more like a paint spill on top of the water.

Most algae is harmless and is a vital building block in marine ecosystems. Only a few species of certain types of algae produce dangerous chemicals, and then often in concentrations low enough not to affect humans.

Filamentous algae is more of a nuisance than anything else. It can clog outboard propellers and foul the air when it dies.

When decomposing in large quantities, the algae does risk depleting the oxygen level of the water and can cause widespread fish kills.

via A swamp thing – The Whig Standard – Ontario, CA.

Ontario’s environment ministry reported the Jan. 18 spill of 800 to 1,000 litres of diesel fuel happened when the fuel was pumped accidentally out of a tank.

The resulting cleanup took two weeks, but officials said most of the fuel ended up on the ice covering the creek. The municipal water supply was not affected, officials said.

The creamery has 90 days in which to pay the fine.

via Creamery fined $28,000 – Community Press – Ontario, CA.

“Thank God,” said Jim Hudson, executive-director of the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC). “We’re going forward on a project selected to be the best solution that we can afford.”

Randle Reef is a shallow area near U.S. Steel’s Hamilton Works, heavily contaminated with toxic coal tar. The cleanup plan involves building a containment structure around the worst sediment, then adding less-contaminated mud from other areas of the harbour and capping it to create a shipping pier.

The work must be done to stop the contamination from spreading and to help get the harbour off the International Joint Commission’s list of Great Lakes toxic hot spots.

The Port Authority placed an ad last week giving public notice of an application under the Navigable Waters Protection Act to the Minister of Transport. The application, which includes the site and engineering plans for the structure, can be viewed at the Wentworth land registry office on the fourth floor of 119 King St. W. The public has 30 days to comment.

The next big call for public comment will be on the environmental assessment of the project, said Hudson.

But a crucial piece of the plan is still missing — a financial commitment from the city to match federal and provincial contributions. Similar to the hotly-debated Pan Am stadium proposal in the city, there is federal and provincial money on the table — $30 million each for Randle Reef. Delays over the past three years have pushed the $90 million project cost to about $105 million.

For the local contribution, officials have asked Burlington and Halton Region to contribute $4 million each. The port authority has already committed to $6 million and U.S. Steel,$7 million.

The possibility of local financial problems derailing the Randle Reef project is not something Hudson wants to consider. “It would be a sad day for Hamilton … We need to deliver on things in this town … we need to execute some projects.”

The containment plan has now been thoroughly evaluated and the facility designed. “Now we need to get on with it,” he said.

Cleaning up the harbour helps the city get rid of its long-standing polluted image, Hudson added. “That is why it is so important to complete the process of getting local funding together as soon as possible.”

Delisting the harbour as a hot spot will bring over $1 billion “of tangible, economic benefits,” he said.

via TheSpec – Randle Reef project inches forward.

Councillors voted unanimously on Monday to write a letter asking the Ministry of the Environment to stop the environmental assessment (EA) on the controversial plan.

Although an approved EA would not automatically mean the plan would go ahead, it might open the door for future councils to pipe water from the village for planned future development in Fraserville, council heard on Monday from environmental consultant Janet Amos.

At first, Coun. Jim Chaplin said he wanted the EA completed and released to the public because people had a right to know its outcome.

After some discussion, however, Chaplin changed his mind.

“If it means the Millbrook wells are still a possibility for Fraserville then cancel the whole damn thing,” he said to applause from the crowd of about 60 people, some of whom wore bright yellow shirts stating ‘It’s About Water,’ during the special council meeting at the township office.

Council voted for Amos to draft the letter to the MOE, to ensure it’s worded clearly. The letter is to be up for approval at the Sept. 7 meeting.

Amos said she believed the ministry was prepared to approve the plan with several conditions.

But council voted 3-2 on Aug. 3 to nix the plan. Amos said she was addressing council on Monday because, in light of this vote, the MOE needed clarification on whether the township still wanted the EA.

It’s too bad the plan’s opponents won’t get to find out the EA results, to know if the plan was ever viable, Coun. Tim Belch told The Examiner after the meeting.

“It could’ve possibly illuminated if the consultant’s report had holes in it,” Belch said.

Jane Zednik, an outspoken opponent of the plan, said she also had “mixed feelings.”

“People have a right to know what the Ministry of the Environment had to say,” Zednik said after the meeting.

NOTES: Consultant Janet Amos told council that Millbrook’s water could supply future development of the village. None of the currently proposed development projects in the village would need a special permit for Millbrook’s water, she said.

via Township goes against Millbrook water diversion – THE LATEST – Peterborough Examiner – Ontario, CA.

Leaders of Wayne County, the towns of Sodus and Huron and the village of Sodus Point said they may use posters, reverse 911 calls to bayside residents, mailings and even a door-to-door campaign to inform people to avoid tainted water.

“We’ve got to get the word out there,” said Laurie Crane, Huron town supervisor.

At a meeting Friday morning in Town Hall, the officials said word had to be spread quickly. This weekend, promising warm, sunny weather, will draw visitors to the popular bay — and Labor Day weekend, typically vacationers’ last big summer hurrah, follows.

The bay, about 40 miles from Rochester on Lake Ontario, has been beset for several weeks by outbreaks of the bacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae. Residents have complained they were learning of the problem mainly through word-of-mouth, and that government agencies had provided no information or advice.

Officials have said the cyanobacteria outbreak at Sodus Bay is the worst they’ve seen there. Such events, though, are not rare in upstate lakes. In the past, the bacteria have been noted in Conesus, Silver and Cayuga lakes, among numerous others.

Honeoye Lake belongs on the list, too, based on the situation there now. On Friday, material that’s identical in appearance and smell to Sodus Bay’s blue-green algae was evident in several small coves on the west side of the small Ontario County Finger Lake.

Dead fish were floating at several spots.

The algae seemed to be much more widespread along the west shore a few days ago, said Bud Dluzak, who recently moved there. “I didn’t even want to take my boat out in it,” he said. “Blue, green, white — it was all kind of colors.”

Northwest winds have pushed most of the material over to Honeoye’s east shore, Dluzak said.

State environmental officials said Friday they just heard of the apparent blue-green algae issue at Honeoye Friday morning and planned to check on it.

Continue reading two-part feature via Officials: Avoid contact with Sodus Bay water | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle.

The fish are considered a “pain in the neck” by many anglers, particularly bait fisherman.

Officials contacted Friday say it’s only a matter of time until the gobies work their way through the local river system into Oneida Lake, where they will undoubtedly impact that lake’s fishery and general ecosystem.

They were discovered Monday in the nets of workers for the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection Monday who were seining a part of Willow Bay as part of an annual survey of the young, first-year fish in the lake.

“We sent a couple of specimens to Cornell’s Field Station at Shackelton Point on Oneida Lake, along with a picture,” said Antonio Deskins, a sanitary engineer with the county. Cornell officials made a positive identification late Friday afternoon.

The bug-eyed fish are native of Russia. Fisheries biologists believe they arrived in the Great Lakes more than a decade ago in freighter’s ballast water. They feed on “just about anything,” including the eggs of native fish and zebra mussels.

They currently carpet the bottom of large sections of Lake Ontario and aggressively strip the hooks of bait fisherman.

“They’re a pain in the neck. They’re always attacking bait if you’re fishing on the bottom,” said Dan Bishop, the regional fisheries manager for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Cortland office.

How’d they get into Onondaga Lake?

“They swam, making their through about 8 or 9 locks on the Oswego River,” Bishop said.

How long will it be before round gobies will find their way into Oneida Lake with its nationally known fishery that pumps millions of dollars each year into the local economy? It’s not clear, but it will happen, officials say.

“We have walleyes and sturgeon that freely move back and forth (between Onondaga and Oneida lakes in the local river system),” said Randy Jackson, senior research associate at the Cornell Field Station. “We know its only a matter of time before they move into Oneida.”

And what will be the impact on Oneida Lake?

“It’s one of those things. There’s trade-offs,” said Jackson, noting the newcomer will undoubtedly prey on the eggs of native fish species, such as bass and perch.

On the other hand, he said, they feed on zebra mussels. In addition, they may help improve the growth rate and size of bass and other adult game fish that feed on them – a phenomenon noted on other bodies of water where gobies are prevalent.

The DEC, though, is currently investigating complaints by anglers on Lake Ontario that the bass fishing there has declined considerably in recent years. Many say gobies figure into the problem. Bishop said it’s unclear at this point whether its because of gobies eating bass eggs, or whether it’s because the adult bass are just harder to catch now because they’re too well-fed from dining on gobies.

Jackson and Bishop noted the proliferation of round gobies could also figure into the cormorant control issue on Oneida Lake. A recent DEC study that examined the stomach contents of the fish-eating birds on Lake Ontario concluded more than 90 percent of their diet was round gobies.

“If (the round gobies) take pressure off our game fish by feeding the cormorants, that may be a good thing,” Jackson said.

Matt Snyder, president of the Oneida Lake Association, responded: “It would be nice to hope such a thing would happen (with the cormorants).” He favors a more “conservative approach,” an approach that involves more than just sitting back and waiting. One that stops the cormorants right now.

“The reality of invasive species is that invade,” he said. “I think that being very aggressive in protecting the game fish populations we now have in Oneida Lake is the right answer.”

via The round goby, an invasive fish species, now calls Onondaga Lake home | syracuse.com.

“These results are not unexpected and our message remains clear,” said Ed Gardner, manager, Environmental Health with the KFL&A Public Health, “Visible algal blooms may produce toxins; therefore, using or drinking this water should be avoided”.

The highest concentrations of toxins are usually found in blooms and scum on the shoreline. These dense accumulations pose the greatest potential risks to people and pets.

Blue-green algae is not limited to the lower Cataraqui River. The Ministry of the Environment has confirmed another bloom in the waters near Joyceville. Blue-green algae thrive in warm, shallow, undisturbed water that receives a lot of sunlight and that is rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. Animal and human waste and fertilizers contain phosphorus and nitrogen.

KFL&A Public Health reminds people using lakes and rivers to be on the lookout for algae blooms, which can be shades of blue, blue-green, yellow, brown, or red.

If blooms are visible:

Avoid using the lake water for drinking, bathing or showering, and do not allow children, pets or livestock to drink or swim in the lake water.

If skin contact does occur, wash with soap and water or rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove algae.

Residents should not boil the water because boiling the water may release more toxins into the water.

Residents should avoid cooking with the water because food may absorb toxins from the water during cooking.

Residents should not eat the liver, kidneys or other organs of fish caught in the water.

Do not treat the water with a disinfectant like bleach. This may break open algae cells and release toxins into the water.

Residents should not rely on water jug filtration systems as they do not protect against the toxins.

On lakes and rivers where blue-green algae blooms are present, people who use the surface water for their private drinking water supply should consider an alternate, protected source of water.

For more information about blue-green algae, visit www.kflapublichealth.ca

via Toxins associated with blue-green algae in lower Cataraqui River – Kingston This Week – Ontario, CA.

The discovery of the unknown liquid in the creek was made by Antero Manninen, who noticed something was out of the ordinary on Monday.

A five-year resident of the neighbourhood, Manninen was on one of his regular walks with his four-year-old son through the north end of the park when he saw what appeared to be oil flowing into the creek from a storm water drain.

“We usually like to go down there and run around and look at different things, and when we got down to the creek, I noticed right away there was a film building up on the side and you could see the oil across the water flowing down,” he said.

Manninen quickly contacted the city. He said roads and park maintenance staff arrived shortly after his call to put booms and peat moss at the site.

“I found out from another local resident who walked by when we were there that this has been an ongoing issue,” he said. “She said this is not the first time this has happened before. She said she smelt oil and has seen lots of oil in the creek, especially in the wintertime.”

Manninen said city staff on site also told him this was not a unique incident.

“I have seen booms there before, but I didn’t know why they were putting them up,” he said. “He (a city employee) said it had happened before, but they haven’t been able to find out where it has been coming from and they’ve actually had to bring in a truck to siphon oil from inside that culvert.”

The local resident found the incident upsetting.

“It is more disturbing to hear this isn’t the first time this has happened,” he said.

He added that even his young son noticed something was wrong.

“He was asking why they were putting those booms in the water,” he said.

By Wednesday afternoon, five of the six-foot booms were still on site, with two in the mouth of the concrete drain, two just a few metres from the opening and one across the length of the creek a little farther downstream. There was a strong oil-like smell coming from the storm water catchment area, with the surface of the water contained by the booms having a rainbow-like appearance.

Continue to full story via InsideHalton Article: What’s in the water?.