QUILCENE – Lake Leland was closed to swimming Friday – although not to fishing and boating – and the public is advised against people or pets drinking the water because of toxins found in it.
It is the second Jefferson County recreation lake to be closed in less than a month because of toxic algae bloom. Anderson Lake – in the state park of the same name west of Chimacum – was closed for all uses June 8.
And now Lake Leland, north of Quilcene, has been placed off-limits to anyone swimming in the water.
It was closed to an annual youth fishing derby last year as a precautionary measure after blue-green algae was spotted around the lake’s perimeter, but tests did not show any toxins in the lake then.
“It did not turn toxic last year, and it has this year,” said Neil Harrington, county environmental specialist who takes lake samples for testing.
The cause of the algae growth is “to put it really simply: sunlight, warmth and nutrients,” Harrington said.
“That’s what makes algae, like all other plants, grow.
“But why we get this in one lake over another, we’re not totally certain.”
Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Jefferson and Clallam counties, has said that nutrients fueling algae growth include nitrogen and phosphates.
Those are commonly found in lawn fertilizer but officials have not said that is the cause of the algae blooms.
Last year, Mike McNickle, Jefferson County environmental health director, said the bottom of a lake periodically turns over, releasing certain naturally recurring substances that may be a contributing factor.
No matter how well it grows, blooming blue-green algae doesn’t always produce toxic bacteria.
So what makes slime become poisonous?
“It’s really hard to tell,” Harrington said.
“It’s one of those things that we’d like to really study.”
One theory is that it’s the plant’s last act before dying.
“Some think it’s a response to the bloom peaking and then starting to decrease in number,” Harrington said.
“It has been observed in lab scenarios that when some species of algae start to die, in their die-off, they release a whole bunch of toxins.”
But Jefferson County environmental health authorities were surprised by the discovery of toxins in Lake Leland and are not certain what the cause is in that particular lake, he said.
