PORT TOWNSEND – With a deadly outbreak of toxic algae blooms closing Anderson Lake to all public access and Lake Leland to swimmers, a Jefferson County official was relieved to learn that state Ecology will test water samples for free.
State Department of Ecology officials announced Thursday that the agency would pay the laboratory testing fees to help counties such as Jefferson identify toxic algae blooms.
Mike McNickle, county Environmental Health director, said the catch is that the state can test only for microcystin, a toxin found last week in Lake Leland, north of Quilcene.
Toxins poisoning Anderson Lake west of Chimacum cannot be state-tested, he said.
“They can’t test for anatoxin A, so it doesn’t do us any good,” McNickle said.
Jefferson County’s Environmental Health Department has been taking weekly water samples at Anderson, Leland and Gibbs lakes at a cost of $300 a sample.
Tacoma-based Water Management Labs conducts the tests.
“They’re very expensive,” McNickle said, adding that his department still awaited this week’s test results, which were expected to be released today.
Clallam County is not conducting tests on lakes within its jurisdiction.
Last week’s tests results of water from the Gibbs Lake, which is owned by Jefferson County, showed low concentrations of algae and it remained open for swimming.
Anderson Lake was found to continue to be toxic with high concentrations of the blue-green algae anabaena, which is producing the potent neurotoxins anatoxin-A and saxitoxin.
These toxins can cause neurological problems in animals and humans.
At lower concentrations they can cause severe and immediate gastrointestinal distress.
Jefferson County Public Health maintains an updated database of lake monitoring information at www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org/index.php?id=171,0,0,1,0,0
