Toxic Algae Outbreak Overwhelms a Polluted Ohio River

The Ohio River, transformed by mining and industrial waste and sewage overflows into the nation’s most polluted major waterway, has a new and unexpected tormentor this fall: carpets of poisonous algae.

Pads of toxic blue-green algae have speckled nearly two-thirds of the 981-mile river in the last five weeks, experts say, in an outbreak that has curbed boating, put water utilities on alert and driven the river’s few hardy swimmers back to shore.

The river outbreak has produced few consequences beyond canceled boat races and warnings in five states to avoid contact with the river. But scientists say it is not to be taken lightly. The toxin, microcystin, causesdiarrhea, vomiting and liver damage, and it has been known to kill animals unlucky enough to drink water tainted with it. Last year’s Lake Erie bloom, an annual event, peaked over the municipal water intake for Toledo, forcing the city to shut down drinking water supplies to 400,000 residents for four days in August.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/us/toxic-algae-outbreak-overwhelms-a-polluted-ohio-river.html?ref=topics&_r=0