LAKE ST CLAIR (WXYZ) — The Army Corps of Engineers says it is a study that happened after a concerned citizen started calling different government agencies, asking for action. The citizen wanted someone to help stop the sudden growth of an organism forming massive mats of smelly muck along the shores of Lake St. Clair.
The muck has changed the lives of waterfront residents, smells bad, hurt property values, and left waterways impassable.
This week Army Corps researchers were out on the water. They say it is a type of cyanobacteria that have been commonly called Lyngbya-forming algae.
“The cyanobacteria are kind of like pennies in a coin tube. So there are thousands of individual cells stacked up,” described Alyssa Calomeni, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research Biologist from Mississippi - and a national expert on cyanobacteria or algae.
She says the research team over the next two years will work to answer questions: Why is this organism now here growing? How does it impact the lake? Is it toxic? How can it be controlled?
In the meantime, she suggests boaters try to make sure they don’t carry it to other waterways.
“Make sure if you are boating in an area where there is these Lyngbya mats, make sure you are checking your boats, checking the props to make sure you haven’t transported it to another location,” she said.
The work is funded with $400,000 provided by Macomb County and the Army Corps of Engineers.
“This affects everyone in the region,” said U.S. Representative John James, District 10 (R), of why it was important for there to be federal funding.
James says he remembers enjoying the waters of Lake Saint Clair as a child, and the plan is to use the information gathered in the two-year study to eventually mitigate the problem.
“It is a drinking water supply for many people, so we have to get ahead of it,” said Candice Miller, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner.
