State officials are urging the public to steer clear of the shallows at Lake Elmo, due to reports of blue-green algae.
Signs posted at Lake Elmo State Park this week warn people not to swim or recreate in the areas where the colorful algae are present. Additionally, visitors are advised to keep all animals out of the water.
The algae, native to Montana’s freshwater lakes and reservoirs, can develop into a potentially toxic bloom known as a Harmful Algae Bloom, or HAB.
HABs are more common in warm water containing nitrogen and phosphorus runoff produced from many different causes. Under certain conditions, the blooms can produce toxins that damage the skin, liver, and nerve cells, leading to illness, or in rare instances, death, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Toxic algae killed three dogs in North Carolina this month, according to USA Today. More locally, on Tuesday, Lewis and Clark Public Health reported that toxic, blue-green algae was spotted at White Sandy Beach on the west side of Hauser Lake.
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Matt Ferguson, a toxicologist with the state health department, said pets and children are the most at risk because they’re the most likely to drink the water or wade into the shallows, where the blooms often concentrate.
“When in doubt, stay out,” is the department’s mantra on any water where the potentially-toxic algae have been spotted.
“Just because there’s so much uncertainty with the health effects with cyanotoxins, … I would just be cautious,” Ferguson said. Cyanotoxins, produced by cyanobacteria, get their name from their blue-green hue.
The blooms look like pea soup, grass clippings, or green latex paint, according to state health officials. The algae do not grow from the bottom like other lake plants but instead are suspended within the water column or float in clusters.
Members of the public are encouraged to report new sightings of a suspicious bloom and to monitor the state’s reporting map of potentially toxic algal blooms at www.hab.mt.gov.
Anyone believed to be sick from toxic algae should call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
In 2018, 50 of the 60 reports of HABs the state received were later confirmed to be blue-green algae, although tests showed the toxins to be at safe levels, the DEQ said, in a press release.
Two-thirds of those reports were in the Helena Valley.