Algae prompt new swim advisory at Maumee Bay

Maumee Bay State Park on Friday became Ohio's second along Lake Erie to have a swimming advisory issued in response to this summer's algae outbreak.

Signs were to be posted by early evening warning people of the public-health threat they will encounter if they enter western Lake Erie's Maumee Bay, Heidi Hetzel-Evans, Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesman, said.

The bay borders the beach on the north side of the park. To the south is the park's inland beach, which is not affected by the advisory, she said.

The presence of a harmful algae bloom known as microcystis was believed to exist Friday after visual observations of a blue-green scum matting up on the bay, Ms. Hetzel-Evans said.

Microcystis often carries the same toxin, microcystin, that was linked to 75 deaths at a kidney dialysis center in Brazil in 1996. The deaths sparked a major field study by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team.

As with East Harbor State Park near Mablehead, where suspicious-looking water was visually documented Tuesday night, the state DNR decided not to risk exposure by waiting for lab results to come back.

"We want to give the public all of the information we have so they can make wise recreation choices this weekend," Ms. Hetzel-Evans said.

Results on samples drawn from both East Harbor and Maumee Bay state parks are expected to be finalized next week.

Preliminary results of samples drawn from East Harbor State Park on Tuesday show they had microcystin levels of 19 parts per billion, just below the World

Health Organization threshold of 20 ppb for recreational contact. The advisory there remains in effect pending more investigation, officials said.

Ohio now has at least eight state parks where advisories have been posted because of algae. The impetus for much of this summer's research has been the excessive blooms along the state's largest inland lake, Grand Lake St. Marys, officials have said.

Maumee Bay and East Harbor state parks are so far the only two with algae advisories along Lake Erie.

"That may change again on Monday," Ms. Hetzel-Evans said.

The algae advisories are believed to be the first along Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline since at least the 1970s.

Decisions on whether to post signs are being made by officials from the Ohio DNR, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ohio Department of Health.

In areas where signs are posted, people and pets are urged not to swim or have other contact with the water, including fishing and boating.

Microcystis is not the only species of algae found, but it is among the most dangerous. Humans are rarely exposed to enough to kill them, but smaller-than-lethal amounts can cause nausea, bloating, cramping, and diarrhea.

Public water systems along Lake Erie, including Toledo's, have activated carbon filtration systems that are effective at removing the algae from public drinking supplies, officials have said.

Scientists have said western Lake Erie's summertime algae typically begins near Toledo and expands easterly as the summer sets in. The Toledo area is the shallowest and warmest part of the Great Lakes, with the greatest amount of algae-growing nutrients.

The region also continues to battle recurrent bacteria problems, much of which is exacerbated by storms.

Lakeside park in Ottawa County has a swimming advisory for bacteria, as does Lakeview Beach in Lorain County, Euclid State Park in Cuyahoga County, and Village Angela State Park in Cuyahoga County, according to the state health department's latest online records.

Contact Tom Henry at:

thenry@theblade.com

or 419-724-6079.