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To: al baby

I was wondering about that. Last year there were a couple incidences of Middle Eastern “tourists” visiting Water sources. IIRC


7 posted on 08/02/2014 2:19:48 PM PDT by machogirl (First they came for my tagline)
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To: machogirl

Probably not bio-terror in the sense of a person putting something in the reservoir, but more likely a bio-response to drought/waterflow restriction. Ohio has had recurrant algal bloom issues.

Public Water System Harmful Algal Bloom Response Strategy

http://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/28/documents/HABs/PWSHABResponseStrategy.pdf

1.2 Cyanobacteria Causes of Concern

Cyanobacteria can produce a variety of toxins which can cause illness and death in humans and animals. These toxins include liver toxins, nerve toxins, and skin toxins. Some of the more common cyanotoxins found in Ohio waters include microcystins, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin and anatoxin-a. Cyanobacteria toxins can be found within cyanobacteria cells or as free toxins in the water. Toxin production is cyanobacteria strain specific, and many of these organisms can produce one or several different types of toxins. These toxins are colorless and persist in the water after a cyanobacteria bloom is gone. Toxins may degrade over time by bacterial action and sunlight.

In addition to toxin production, cyanobacteria can cause other problems in drinking water sources. The excess organic load is a concern for public water supplies, because chlorination of organic material can result in the production of trihalomethanes (carcinogen).

1.5 Rationale for Strategy Development
Ohio government officials became aware of HAB development in Ohio’s lakes in 2007 when the Ohio EPA participated in the National Lakes Assessment. This survey included sampling for the cyanotoxin, microcystin. In April 2009, the results of the 2007 National Lakes Assessment were released, showing that more than 36% of the randomly selected 19 Ohio lakes sampled had detectable levels of microcystin, which was higher than the national average.

.....The extensive HAB on Lake Erie in 2011 was considered the worst in 30 years, with microcystin concentrations exceeding 1000 ug/L in the open water of the western basin. Microcystin concentrations at the City of Celina’s intake were even greater in 2012 (maximum concentration >100 ug/L) but concentrations in Lake Erie were much lower. This was due in part to a severe drought that limited nutrient input from the Maumee River into Lake Erie to historically low levels. Overall, cyanotoxins were detected in the majority of source waters sampled in 2010, 2011, and 2012.


38 posted on 08/02/2014 2:54:19 PM PDT by blueplum
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