Blue-green algae are disrupting people’s lives

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

People who have cottages and homes on lake frontage in parts of Yarmouth County say the presence of blue-green algae is having a devastating impact on their personal and recreational lives. And they’re frustrated.

Lakes in the Carleton lakes system have become prey to the algae. The Department of Environment recently stated at a public information session that, despite studies, they have not been able to pinpoint a direct source. But many people believe mink farms in Digby County are the problem.

And they’re concerned the issue will only worsen in the area now that a mink ranch is proposed for Sloans Lake near Carleton.

Yarmouth resident Blair Cottreau and his family spend a lot of time at his father’s cottage on Lake Ogden in Forest Glen. There are times when the water is a bright green because of the algae bloom. And even when they can’t see the bloom, it is always in their minds. Cottreau says this year the situation is the worst he’s seen. And you can imagine how disappointing it is for his children when they’re told they can’t swim in the water.

Even if the water is clear, Cottreau says his family still feels uneasy. “It still bothers us,” he says. “If it’s clear we might still go out tubing and that kind of thing but we don’t want the kids to play in the water. And the future is a big concern. If this is going to get to a point where someone says you can’t be in the water anymore at all, that’s going to spoil our cottage life.”

Yarmouth resident Graham Surette and his family also have a cottage on Lake Ogden and spend a good portion of their summer there. Surette has three children in their teens, and three dogs. He finds himself having to shoo his dogs away from the shoreline over fear they’ll play in the water or worse, drink it. “We don’t swim in the lake like we used to,” Surette says. “We’ll go for quick swims when we’re warm, we do some water skiing, but we don’t spend a whole lot of time in the water anymore. It’s sickening to see.”

Surette purchased his property in 2001 and the family built their cottage in 2003. Like many others, he believes mink farms are the problem. He recently flew over the area in an airplane and says in some cases it’s astonishing how close to the shoreline some farms are.

With every meeting that is held on the situation, Surette is a little more optimistic that people are starting to listen. What’s he’s not as optimistic about is any quick fix or cleanup to this ongoing problem. “If you were to ask me, ‘Do you think your lake is going to be clean in three years?’ I doubt it,” Surette says. “And that’s sad.”

QUICK GLANCE

Blue-green algae are primitive microscopic plants. In warm weather, populations can rapidly increase to form a large mass called a bloom. A key factor affecting the growth and spread of the algae are the level of available nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. Some forms of blue-green algae produce toxins that can be harmful to the health of people and animals.