Ohio River Algae Bloom Going Away
Wheeling Intelligencer
27 September 2015
By Linda Comins. Staff Writer
WHEELING - A blue-green algae bloom that has affected the Ohio
River for weeks has dissipated greatly in the Wheeling area, but
officials said the underlying source of the problem may never be
known.
The bloom, which was first spotted at the Pike Island Locks and
Dam in mid-August, has made its way below Cincinnati in the Ohio
River.
"From shore observations, things have greatly improved, but we do
not have data from sampling done in the area. Most of the large
mats of algae have moved south," Howard Gamble, administrator of
the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, said.
Regarding the duration of the algae problem locally, Gamble said,
"I think we will have it until we have a larger rainstorm to move
the creeks or the Ohio River. ... But it has improved
dramatically."
Water supplied by the Wheeling water department continues to be
safe to drink, he said. Local health authorities are waiting for
confirmational reports from investigating agencies on data
regarding water quality.
At the height of the situation, local health departments issued
advisories for residents to use caution when engaging in Ohio
River activities and to keep pets out of the river and its
tributaries.
Health authorities received no reports from emergency rooms or
urgent care facilities of anyone becoming sick because of exposure
to river water, Gamble said, nor have there been any reports of
large fish kills that would signal high toxicity from algae.
Gamble told the Wheeling-Ohio Board of Health it might be "kind of
difficult" to find the source that caused the blue-green algae
bloom.
"Something came off between Weirton and the Pike Island Dam.
Something fed into that algae," he said.
The algae, which was spotted as far north as the mouth of Buffalo
Creek below Wellsburg, backed up when it reached the dam.
"It took a long time to get down (to the dam)," Gamble said.
Blue-green algae usually appears on the water surface and as far
down as 8 inches, he said, adding Wheeling's water intake is below
that level. Water departments along the river "take care of the
algae component before the water is treated," he added.
Experts say blue-green algae grows when material with a high
nutrient content enters a body of water. High temperatures and low
rainfall -conditions prevalent in the Wheeling area in July and
August - exacerbate the problem.
Benjamin Stout, a professor of biology at Wheeling Jesuit
University, said algae can deplete water of oxygen and cause fish
kills. The problem "is more prevalent in lakes than in rivers, but
our river is getting a lot of use. There is a lot of water drawn
from our river," he said.
"Heavy rainfall into already low-flow condition can stimulate
unwanted growth of algae, be they blue-green or other," Stout
added.
Toxins in algae could make water unfit to use, but so far that
hasn't happened locally, he added.
Stout acknowledged the source of this particular incident is a
puzzle, but could involve phosphorus or nitrogen.
"We're good at taking the organic load out by using organic
elements that dissolve bacteria ... but we're not so good at
taking nitrogen and phosphorus out of the waste stream," he said.
Regarding implications for the river, Stout said, "Long-term, it's
something we really need to address. ... It can lead to dead zones
from what we know about from nitrogen from the Midwest ending up
in the Gulf of Mexico."
Asked if hydraulic fracturing might contribute to the current
situation, Stout said, "It could be that it could have something
to do with it. They would have to go through and eliminate all
potential causes."
Significant water withdrawal, such as that used in the fracking
industry, "certainly has potential to be involved," Stout said.
Weirton lawyer Raymond A. Hinerman Sr., who earned a master of
laws degree with an emphasis on environmental issues in May at
West Virginia University, said runoff of chemical fertilizers
containing nitrogen from Midwest farms has entered the Mississippi
River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
He said algae has created a dead zone the size of Rhode Island in
the gulf.
"The dead zone has grown every year for probably the past 20-25
years," Hinerman said.
The algae bloom, known as "red tide," has a strong unpleasant odor
and kills fish in the gulf, he said.