A huge toxic algae bloom in Utah has closed one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi River, sickening more than 100 people and leaving farmers scrambling for clean water for days during the hottest part of the year.
The bacteria commonly known as blue-green algae has spread rapidly to cover almost all of 388km2 Utah Lake, turning the water bright, anti-freeze green with a pea soup texture and leaving scummy foam along the shore.
“It smells like something is rotting,” Utah County Health Department water quality director Jason Garrett said. “We don’t have an idea of how long this event will last.”
Photo: AP
Toxic algae is a problem around the country. An enormous outbreak in Florida is fouling beaches on the Atlantic coast, and a 2014 outbreak at Lake Erie left more than 400,000 people in the Toledo area without tap water for two days.
Utah Lake does not provide drinking water, but its closure has caused big problems for people who use the lake for swimming, fishing and other activities and for farmers with thirsty crops.
Utah Poison Control said it has fielded hundreds of calls related to the bloom, including about 130 involving people who have reported vomiting, diarrhea, headache and rashes.
The contamination spread to the Jordan River, which supplies irrigation water to dozens of farmers around Salt Lake City, about 72km north of the lake. The problem occurred amid days of high temperatures as growers prepare for farmers markets and try to nurture crops such as corn and fruit trees at key points in their development.
“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of [US] dollars on this crop, maxed out every dollar we have,” said Luke Petersen, who farms about 40 hectares of tomatoes, summer squash and other produce in Riverton, Utah. “We’re real worried about it.”
Farmers got some relief on Friday after the state lifted a week-long advisory against using the water for food production. Officials cited new test results that show lower-than-feared levels of dangerous toxins produced by the bacteria.
Meanwhile, the Bonneville School of Sailing has had to cancel more than a dozen groups since the lake was closed.
“This will be a real hit,” co-owner Todd Frye said.
He said he loves the mountain-rimmed lake and has worked to change the decades-old perception that it is murky and polluted.
New efforts to clean out bottom-feeding carp are improving the water quality, but he said he worries the algae bloom will be a blow to its image.
The lake is largely fed by treated wastewater as well as agricultural runoff, Utah Division of Water Quality assistant director Erica Gaddis said.
“Longstanding drought conditions have made the water especially low and stagnant. Combine that with hot summer weather and Utah Lake became a perfect petri dish for the cyanobacteria. There are chemical and biological treatments for the problem, but using them on such a large bloom would be unprecedented and possibly harmful,” Gaddis said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese