It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but for the residents of Bluffdale, Utah, it’s all too real: earlier this week, a massive, pale-green blob of foam started bubbling up through a roadway storm drain, forcing health department officials to launch an investigation.
Fortunately, as Gizmodo and Live Science explained, the substance is not believed to be linked to a excrement-fueled bloom of toxic algae currently affecting the Utah Lake area. Rather, it was likely the result of routine moss cleaning at a canal connected to the affected storm drain.
Of course, testing on samples taken from the drain is currently ongoing, and nothing is official until those results are announced, but Nicholas Rupp of the Salt Lake County Health Department assured reporters that the chemicals used to clear canals of moss tend to foam up, and that there is likely no link to the algal bloom on the lake, and thus nothing to be afraid of.
“At this point, we certainly don’t believe the foam is related to algae,” Rupp said, according to Gizmodo. “All evidence points to it coming from the moss cleaning process because that process creates foaming.” Likewise, Donna Spangler of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), told Live Science that the foam “has nothing to do with algae.”
Nope, not a scene out of the new #Ghostbusters movie, this was found coming out of a Bluffdale drain today. pic.twitter.com/IxWZkX3BV4
— Ashley Kewish (@ashleykewish) July 22, 2016
Toxic Lake Utah
While the investigation into the roadside gate forced the nearby street to be closed, people who live in the area will undoubtedly be thrilled to learn that the foam probably does not pose a health risk. The same cannot be said for Utah Lake, however, as the aforementioned algal blooms there have forced public health officials to close the lake due to concerns over cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria algae, Live Science explains, can release toxins that can affect the brain, nervous system, and liver function of anyone exposed to the substance. At its peak, the bloom has covered as much as 90 percent of the lake and has even crept into nearby tributaries, Spangler noted.
The combination of hot temperatures, low water levels and high phosphorus concentrations are being blamed for the growth of the algal mass, experts noted. Close to four-fifths of the water’s phosphorus content comes from discharge by nearby wastewater treatment plants, officials with the Utah DEQ explained. In short, human-produced waste is fueling the bloom’s growth.
In a statement, Utah state and county health officials said that the lake contained three times the algal content needed for closing a body of water. “Water with these levels of concentration in the algal bloom pose serious health risks,” said Ralph Clegg, Executive Director of the Utah County Health Department. “To protect the health of people and animals that use the lake, it is necessary for the lake to remain closed until it is safe for recreation.”
Officials are advising anyone concerned about exposure to the toxic algae to call contact local poison control centers or their doctors, and to avoid consuming any fish caught from Utah Lake on or after July 10. Furthermore, they are advising people to avoid fishing in rivers or tributaries near the lake until further notice.
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Image credit: Bluffdale City/Facebook
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