CHIMACUM — It’s become Dana Fickeisen’s routine this summer. Every Monday, she kneels at Anderson Lake’s edge to fill small bottles with samples of water that will be tested for the toxic blue-green algae that forced the state park’s closure in early June.
With the recent heat wave on the North Olympic Peninsula and throughout the state, Fickeisen, a specialist with Jefferson County Environmental Health, fears that algae blooms in the lake could be growing.
“The hot weather has made it bloom,” said Fickeisen of the poisonous algae.
“It’s all over, everywhere.”
On Monday morning, a sheen of the algae could been seen stretching over much of the 70-acre lake surface.
She said some wildlife, such as mice and muskrats, have been found dead at the lake’s edge, supposedly from drinking the toxic water.
June 5 closure
The state park, located off Anderson Lake Road about a mile west of Chimacum, was closed June 5 after two dogs were killed from ingesting the water and one nearly died after going into a seizure but was able to be saved.
Cyanobacteria — sometimes referred to as blue-green algae — is present in most bodies of water and usually causes no problems for humans or animals.
But when the right conditions align — the water is calm, relatively warm and overly rich in phosphates and nitrogen, common chemicals in lawn fertilizers — it can bloom into high concentrations.
Initially, test results in June showed that the lake had a high concentration of anatoxins, one toxic form of cyanobacteria.
A toxicology report showed that microsystis was producing a level of anatoxins at 20 parts per billion.
According to the World Health Organization, any total more than 1 part per billion should close the lake.
New form of toxin
But more recently, test samples taken from the lake July 10 show the a new form of toxin taking over.
A high concentration of lyngbya wollei have been producing saxatoxin levels at between 5 and 10 parts per billion.
Saxatoxin is a neurotoxin affecting the nervous system.
“We’ve had toxin soup,” said Fickeisen.
