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BEACHNET==> Article
- Subject: BEACHNET==> Article
- From: CKnauf@monroecounty.gov
- Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 11:49:37 -0500
- Delivered-to: beachnet-archive@glc.merit.edu
- Delivered-to: beachnet@glc.merit.edu
In case this didn't get out any other way. We here in Monroe County on
Lake Ontario have had the same problem for years.
Charles L. Knauf
Environmental Health Project Analyst
Monroe County Health Department
111 Westfall Road Room 976
Rochester, NY 14692
cknauf@monroecounty.gov
(585) 753-5440
fax (585) 753-5098
----- Forwarded by Charlie Knauf/HD/Monroe on 03/06/09 11:50 AM -----
Eric J Wiegert
<ejw05@health.sta
te.ny.us> To
CKnauf@monroecounty.gov
03/06/09 09:46 AM cc
Subject
http://www.michigansthumb.com/articles/2009/03/05/news/local_news/doc49aea738447fc216840760.txt
Muck machine a myth, for now
By Kate Hessling, Tribune Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 11:23 AM EST
BAY CITY — While there have been many ideas and announcements precluding
the development of a “muck sucking” machine, there still is no equipment
designed to remove the muck-like algae that has been lining the area’s
shoreline for years, and causing numerous environmental, health and
economic concerns in the Saginaw Bay area.
“We don’t have anything to deal with muck on the beach. We have tried
numerous ways to use equipment to clean it, some more successful than
others ... but the machines aren’t designed for muck removal,” said Mike
Evanoff, Department of Natural Resources unit supervisor at the Bay City
State Recreation Area, during a presentation Tuesday about muck
management.
The presentation, “Muck Management Uncensored,” highlighted efforts the
Bay City State Recreation Area has done to combat the growing problem of
muck on the shoreline.
Evanoff noted while muck has been a constant problem for the past six or
seven years, it’s not anything new as he has pictures of muck at the
park’s beach that date back to 1929.
The muck essentially is a mixture of plant materials and sand, said
Charles E. Bauer, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
environmental quality analyst.
It’s primarily a type of algae that grows out in the bay and as
temperatures change, it dies and is washed up on the shoreline. The amount
of muck growing in the bay is increased when nutrients are added into the
water, such as phosphorus (which for every 1 pound creates 500 pounds of
algae), Bauer said.
Evanoff said there’s an increase of muck accumulation on the shoreline
when water levels are lower.
When asked whether the muck is safe, both Bauer and Evanoff said they did
not know. In fact, numerous scientists studying the Great Lakes currently
are tackling this question, the pair reported.
In the meantime, beachgoers are encouraged to take caution, according to a
health advisory issued in August 2006 by the Huron and Bay county health
departments.
Because of the unknown health effects of the muck, that advisory — which
still is in effect — instructs residents to limit contact with debris, to
wash with soap and water if contact with the debris occurs, and to avoid
the muck areas if open sores or wounds are present or if anyone, such as a
child, may ingest the material.
Huron County Environmental Health Director Dale Lipar said there have been
no reports of any illnesses caused by the muck. He said there have been no
reports to Water Watch, a Saginaw Bay water survey that’s online and
available 24/7 for individuals who have visited the area and believe to
have an illness caused by exposure to water, sand or muck.
Evanoff said he also has not heard of any reports of sickness, though the
Bay City State Recreation Area still posts the muck advisory to educate
beachgoers.
Regarding ways the park has tried removing muck from the beach, Evanoff
presented photos of bulldozers, tractors, surf rakes and other equipment
the Bay City State Recreation Area has used to combat the problem over the
past four decades.
Sometimes, it’s possible to scrape the muck off the beach, as was done
successfully in the 1990s. Other times, such as was the case last year,
muck removal efforts created a softer shoreline that weren’t hard enough
to support beach grooming equipment. The soft algae has caused more than
one piece of equipment to get “stuck in the muck,” Evanoff said.
A solution would be a machine specifically designed to remove muck, from
both the water and sand, and then have the ability to transport it away
from the shoreline, he said. While there was talk about some sort of
prototype muck machine being developed with a group in Bay County
(primarily involving some business owners and a few county commissioners),
that has not panned out.
“We had high hopes to get something going this spring, but my
understanding is that isn’t going to happen,” Evanoff said.
Evanoff said a muck machine more than likely would be expensive, but he
and Bauer agreed finding funding to purchase/create muck-removing
equipment is not nearly as much of a challenge as creating the actual
machine.
Another muck management problem the Bay City State Recreation Area has is
the lack of a place to put muck once its taken off the beach, Evanoff
said.
“It’s a never-ending battle trying to deal with the algae build up ... We
can remove it from the shoreline, but then we don’t have any place to put
it,” he said, noting there still are some piles of muck on the beach that
are from last summer. “ ... It was either moved upland, and some of it was
even buried upland.”
He said in the past, the Bay City State Recreation Area previously used
muck as a fertilizer in some areas of the park. However, it no longer does
that because of the E. coli concerns associated with the muck.
Ideally, the best option for dealing with the muck would be to compost it
in a nearby farmer’s field or other appropriate place where the material
would be able to dry out, Evanoff said.
Anther problem the park’s encountered while trying to combat the muck
problem is that once removed, more muck piles on the shoreline — sometimes
as soon as a day after the beach has been cleaned. As a result, the beach
is not attractive for swimming and water recreation is hurt.
One solution the Bay City State Recreation Area has done is using two
floating docks that stretch out into the bay and are used by people to
walk over the muck (rather than through it) to get to clean swimming
water. While they have been effective, they do have faults, such as when
muck accumulates in front of the docks or when waters recede and the docks
don’t stretch far enough out to reach clean water, Evanoff said.
Another solution the park and other entities have researched is purchasing
a beach protection system that includes an algal netting that would filter
muck from entering water in a swim area, Evanoff said.
He noted while this idea is very expensive and labor intensive (because
the nets have to be cleaned), similar netting systems have proved
successful in other areas of the country. The nets have been particularly
helpful in beaches that have had E. coli problems.
“Who knows, maybe some day we will try it,” Evanoff said, citing a pilot
test as one possible avenue for getting a netted beach protection system.
Bauer added the DEQ also has done some research on this option.
Tuesday’s presentation was part of the Partnership for Saginaw Bay Speaker
Series, which is held in conjunction with the Saginaw Bay Coastal
Initiative (SBCI). SBCI is an effort by the State of Michigan to raise
awareness about the environment and economics of Saginaw Bay, with the
goal of improving both, Bauer said.
He said Saginaw Bay is one of 42 areas of environmental concerns in the
Great Lakes region, primarily because of the muck problem.
“This year, the speakers series is going to focus on short-term things we
can do to manage muck,” Bauer said.
The speaker series, which has been on hiatus in recent months, will be
held from 3 to 5 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month at the Bay City
State Recreation Area, Bauer said.
Because there was no time to issue a press release notifying the public of
Tuesday’s meeting, and since the information Evanoff presented is so
important to the topic of muck management, Bauer said next month’s
presentation will be the same as Tuesday’s.
That will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 7 at the Bay City State
Recreation Area.
Kate Hessling • (989) 269-6461 • khessling@hearstnp.com
Eric J. Wiegert
New York State Department of Health
Bureau of Community Environmental Health
and Food Protection
Room 515
547 River Street
Troy, NY 12180
ph: (518) 402-7600 fax: (518) 402-7609
email: ejw05@health.state.ny.us
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