No answers in battle against bacteria at Grand Lake St. Marys

State officials will know in October if test projects have stemmed outbreak.

Cracker Barrel manager accused of embezzling $2K
Updated 15 min. ago
Frozen yogurt shop offers frenzy of flavors, toppings
5:58 p.m.
Wright-Patterson relatively unscathed in Obama defense budget
4:55 p.m.
Dayton Mall shoe store moving
4:32 p.m.
Is your “unlimited” data being throttled?
2:32 p.m.
> More headlines

By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 1:28 AM Wednesday, September 8, 2010

CELINA — State officials should know by late October whether two test projects aimed at tamping down a cyanobacteria outbreak at Grand Lake St. Marys are doing the trick and can be applied on a larger scale.

More than 400 local residents attended a briefing Tuesday, Sept. 7, by top state officials on how they are battling the outbreak that has hammered the area’s recreation and tourism industry this summer.

The expansion of the two projects could make the lake usable for summer 2011. The bacteria is fading naturally with the drop in temperatures as fall approaches.

The projects under way this summer include spraying alum or aluminum sulfate to reduce phosphorous that feeds the bacteria as well as releasing highly pulverized silica or sand into the lake that boosts the growth of diatoms, a beneficial green algae that could out compete and suppress the bacteria.

It is not known how much it will cost to expand the silica treatment to the 13,000-acre lake, but the alum treatment could cost up to $10 million if applied over the entire lake surface.

Both possible solutions are only short term.

Long-term farm runoff must be reduced to prevent more phosphorous from pouring into the lake.

Meantime, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Sean Logan said the state is searching for land to temporarily store sediment that will be dredged from where the creeks drain into the lake. The sediment there is loaded with the deposits of runoff that fuel the bacteria.

In 2009-10, local, state and federal spending in the watershed will total $6.8 million, including a floating wetlands and sediment trap in Prairie Creek, a project that could be repeated at the lake’s other feeder creeks.

For the most part, residents in attendance seemed impressed with the presentations. Ben Rupert, 50, said he believes the state needs to dredge the entire lake, a potential solution state officials have said is prohibitively expensive.

“Same old, same old,” he said. “This lake was toxic in 2009 and they didn’t do anything.”

Share this article