Return of blue-green algae nothing new at Clear Lake

excuse me mr. knight i strongly disaggree with your comment that all homes on the lake are on the sewer system. jago, konocti, soda bays are not on sewers. neither is buckingham. was there a sewer leak in the austin park area or not. i heard there was on the local news. are you sure that this was not the cause of the blue green alge bloom. seems strange since we had low rainfall this yr which seems to regulate the alge growth in the lake. also lakeport for yrs has dump their effluent in the lake as well as konocti harbour inn. sewer lines in the oaks have been leaking for yrs. rice farmer is upper lake transfering fertilizered irrigation water in and out of rodman slough. god for bid the quagga and zebra mussels get into the lake they may contribute to the clarity improving. thats their jobs. they are filter feeders.

Correction: Not "all lakeside homes are on sewer systems". All of the east lake (Oaks) side of Sulpher Bank peninsula is on septic. There is a sewer line out the Lower Lake side, all the way to Windflower point. However, the houses from Windlower down to the mine are all on septic. These systems are all at least 100' from high water, and have never put "tainted water" into the lake. Water from septic tanks flows into leach lines, and the water percolates through soil. After about two feet of vertical ground percolation, the effluent is clear from bacteria, and becomes natural groundwater again.

This SUCKS!

"However, the houses from Windlower down to the mine are all on septic. These systems are all at least 100' from high water, and have never put "tainted water" into the lake. Water from septic tanks flows into leach lines, and the water percolates through soil. After about two feet of vertical ground percolation, the effluent is clear from bacteria, and becomes natural groundwater again."

Thank you for an accurate post. The "cyanobacteria"(corr ect spelling) and the other species are a natural part of (shallow lake(avg 27'), high temps (82 deg occasionally), nutrient inflow from watershed (natural and some man-made erosion), sunlight (made worse from shallow water), and sometimes little or no wind (aeration).

This algae could be a sustainable industry for LC. Researchers are looking into converting it into a fuel, the same way french fry oil became an alternative energy source. What smells bad that we have plenty of, may just become a goldmine. Ask our resident Lake Biologist, he has the lowdown on the stuff. ;-}

Slime lake or Clearlake is contaminated with heavy metal toxins, namely mercury - to such an extent that the DFG issues warnings regarding human consumption of fish from said cesspool. A little leach drainage into the lake actually might help the overall quality of the water.

imho cornhule wrote:

Slime lake or Clearlake is contaminated with heavy metal toxins, namely mercury - to such an extent that the DFG issues warnings regarding human consumption of fish from said cesspool. A little leach drainage into the lake actually might help the overall quality of the water.

God, you're so frickin' boring. Go beat your drum somewhere else.

You have been drinking too much Kool Aid made with unprocessed lake water.

imho cornhule wrote:

Slime lake or Clearlake is contaminated with heavy metal toxins, namely mercury - to such an extent that the DFG issues warnings regarding human consumption of fish from said cesspool. A little leach drainage into the lake actually might help the overall quality of the water.

To our savior I pray that you go to hell when your time comes. Amen

imho cornhule wrote:

Slime lake or Clearlake is contaminated with heavy metal toxins, namely mercury - to such an extent that the DFG issues warnings regarding human consumption of fish from said cesspool. A little leach drainage into the lake actually might help the overall quality of the water.

Please spare us the uneducated tripe. You don't have a clue regarding all things learned. If you hate Clearlake so much, by all means, pack the u-haul and leave. The fewer people like you in this county the better. Oh, and read if you're capable!

If you would read the DFG advisories instead of using them for TP, you might learn something. You and Hal are in the typical LC frybrain denial and I suspect you live in the lower armpit of the lake.

imho cornhule wrote:

Slime lake or Clearlake is contaminated with heavy metal toxins, namely mercury - to such an extent that the DFG issues warnings regarding human consumption of fish from said cesspool. A little leach drainage into the lake actually might help the overall quality of the water.

I'm not talking about drinking the water. I am talking about harvesting the blue-green algae for use as an alternative energy source. A fellow over in Mendo Co. who runs Yokayo Fuels may just be researching the possibilities. That's the entreprenurial spirit that is needed during hard economic times to turn lemons into lemonade. Obama would be proud of this type of distinctly American ingenuity. So am I. ;-}

imho cornhule wrote:

If you would read the DFG advisories instead of using them for TP, you might learn something. You and Hal are in the typical LC frybrain denial and I suspect you live in the lower armpit of the lake.

You know, "corncobb", even living in "prestigious" Lakeport, the "French Riviera" of California, will not change the fact that you are a miserable person. I don't know what made you this way, though I suspect you are frustrated at having to quit High School, fail the GED several times before passing, and the military would not accept you, so you had to get a job with LCSO and have them send you to the academy because you had to have a gun to compensate for a little tiny ****. You need to take a Biology and Chemistry class in a "real college", not just a certificate program through "handgun" magazine", if you want to continue discussions on water quality. STOP making comments about things you DO NOT and CANNOT understand. It confuses the other people that read these posts to learn something. This is my last response to you because I truly pity you.

I get my information from professionals in published official documents. Why is that so hard for you to understand? If you know otherwise, why aren't your views published and available for review? I suspect your income is derived from tourism, maybe bass tourneys. Apparently you are neither professional nor official but a sorry individual that deflects from the truth for personal gain without regard for public safety.

Terry, it's you isn't it????

The DFG puts out advisories for fish consumption at any number of bodies of water. There is no smoking gun in your literature. It's really old reading.

Elem Indian Colony is a 50 acre parcel of land situated on the Eastern shore of Clear Lake, and provides residence for a significant percentage of enrolled Elem Pomo Tribal members. Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM) operated periodically from 1867-1957 and is contained within the Elem Pomo Tribal aboriginal lands. The Elem Indian Colony is located directly adjacent to the abandoned mercury mine. The Elem Pomo Tribe is impacted by mercury and other heavy metal contaminants from the mine that are affecting human health and environment, as well as the political, social, economic and cultural aspects of tribal subsistence and cultural lifestyles.

Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM) was listed as a National Priority List (NPL) site in 1990 to address mercury releases into Clear Lake. The 220-acre site includes Herman Pit, mercury tailings, ore piles (47 thousand tons), mine waste rock (4 million tons) and the waste rock dam (1.3 million tons). Since the Superfund site listing, EPA conducted numerous studies to understand the type of media (air, water, soils and sediments) that are impacted, as well as existing levels and transport of contamination. Herman Pit contains mercury-rich acid mine drainage water, which surmounted by the geothermal complexities of the surrounding Mt. Konocti region generates a major source of mercury flowing into the lake, distressing the Clear Lake and Cache Creek watersheds. The EPA cleanup approach for SBMM is staged in three phases.

What part of "distress" do you not understand?

I think you hit it when you said the locals want to downplay the level of contamination in the lake because of how it may affect tourism, the bass tournaments and the local economy all the while doing irreversable damage to one's nervous system. Suffer the children.

imho cornhule wrote:

Elem Indian Colony is a 50 acre parcel of land situated on the Eastern shore of Clear Lake, and provides residence for a significant percentage of enrolled Elem Pomo Tribal members. Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM) operated periodically from 1867-1957 and is contained within the Elem Pomo Tribal aboriginal lands. The Elem Indian Colony is located directly adjacent to the abandoned mercury mine. The Elem Pomo Tribe is impacted by mercury and other heavy metal contaminants from the mine that are affecting human health and environment, as well as the political, social, economic and cultural aspects of tribal subsistence and cultural lifestyles.
Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine (SBMM) was listed as a National Priority List (NPL) site in 1990 to address mercury releases into Clear Lake. The 220-acre site includes Herman Pit, mercury tailings, ore piles (47 thousand tons), mine waste rock (4 million tons) and the waste rock dam (1.3 million tons). Since the Superfund site listing, EPA conducted numerous studies to understand the type of media (air, water, soils and sediments) that are impacted, as well as existing levels and transport of contamination. Herman Pit contains mercury-rich acid mine drainage water, which surmounted by the geothermal complexities of the surrounding Mt. Konocti region generates a major source of mercury flowing into the lake, distressing the Clear Lake and Cache Creek watersheds. The EPA cleanup approach for SBMM is staged in three phases.
What part of "distress" do you not understand?

For someone who has such an articulate, informed style of communicating the scientific facts surrounding Clear Lake's contamination levels and negative environmental impacts, won't you please change your name to something less contentious and more sophisticated? I like Lake Biologist, he usually swings through this area for a visit around this time every year. But hey, I'm just one of the botched and the bungled of no concern to you.

G and O:

If you think our Emo friend is articulate, I respectfully direct your attention to his latest post on the New Dinius Trial.

I do not know about you, but I have lived here in the County for over 10 years. While I am fully aware that there is a peculiar algae smell that tends to permeate this end of the Lake every summer, this time it seems a bit different to me.

Conditions are different; the weather was not yet typical Lake County Melt-Down, the aroma hit all towns around the Lake, we had little rain this past winter, it is too early in the year, and the smell was undeniably different - and unmistakably "sewage-y."

Am I wrong?