Professor addresses lake salinity, algae

MONTOUR FALLS--Hobart and William Smith professor Dr. John Halfman spoke to an audience of nearly 100 people Saturday, Feb. 28 in Montour Falls regarding the water quality of Seneca Lake. His presentation was part of the free Seneca Lake Academy courses held Saturdayand elicited several questions from audience members who were concerned with the lake's water quality. The main issues addressed had to deal with the salinity of Seneca Lake, along with concerns about blue-green algae in the lake.
Halfman spoke about several factors in and around Seneca Lake that may have led to higher salt levels in the water.
"Seneca is the saltiest Finger Lake," Halfman said. "Current sodium concentrations are above the drinking water advisories set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for infants and those on low salt diets. A number of sources, e.g., streams, permitted mine wastes, and diffusion through the sediments, are quantified, and other potential sources including issue' at the abandoned mine in Himrod, and waste disposal into the lake pre-EPA and DEC (early 1900s), have all contributed to its saltiness."
However, Halfman also said there are other factors that may or may not have contributed to the high salinity as well.
"Groundwater flow may have also contributed," Halfman said. "Some experts say yes, others say no. Therefore, I conclude that science cannot prove the exact source of the excess salt that gets to Seneca Lake. Neither can science prove the integrity of these salt caverns to store natural and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) over time, although I have much less expertise in this area compared to the hydrogeochemistry of the Finger Lakes."
Halfman said he has seen reports that say salt companies lost salt into the lake for several years, but added some reports he had seen were from the 1970s, which was after the salinity spike. He said he thought it could have been an earthquake in the area that opened up a salt mine, but added there was not a significant earthquake in the area during this time. Halfman said there were new regulations in the 1970s that clamped down on people dumping things into streams, but added he did not know what impact that may have had. He said salt mining practices in the area may not have been as efficient as they are today, which may have caused more salt to be disposed of as waste material.
"Perhaps earlier on, processes for salt might not have been as efficient," Halfman said. "If you're getting rid of a lot of waste, where are you going to put it? There is a nice big lake right in your backyard."
Halfman said the industry was less regulated in the past, and dumping salt was looked differently upon than if a company was dumping toxic materials like arsenic or mercury.
While residents asked about the potential impact to the wildlife this salinity increase had, Halfman said he did not believe it was high enough to adversely affect the fish population.
"There was not a big enough salinity change to affect fish in my opinion," Halfman said, while also adding he is not an expert on wildlife.
Halfman was also asked about what impact putting brine on the roads would have on the lake, which he said goes into the streams feeding into Seneca Lake. However, he said from what he has measured in the streams, it "does not account for everything that there is in the lake."
Halfman also discussed the issue of nutrient levels and algae in Seneca Lake, which included concerns over the toxic variety of blue-green algae possibly coming to the lake.
"If nutrient loading continues, we will get extensive blooms," Halfman said. "We already have had blue-green algae in the lake. We already have had experienced localized blooms of blue green algae. However, I do not know if toxic strains have been documented in Seneca like toxic strains have been detected in neighboring Finger Lakes like Conesus, Honeoye, Owasco and Otisco Lakes."
Halfman said blue-green algae could come and thrive in an environment where water is really cloudy due to nutrient loading, prospering when other food is around. He said it can outcompete other algae, adding it can make people sick just by coming into contact with them.
"All you have to do is touch the water and you get sick," Halfman said. "We don't want that."
While Halfman said the introduction of zebra mussels into the lake in the 1990s helped to make the lake water clearer for a period, it was detrimental to the ecosystem because they hoarded all the nutrients for themselves, leaving little else for other algae and wildlife to feed upon in the lake. He said following the dying off of the mussels in the late 1990s, the algae levels started to rise again "almost overnight," reaching a level today similar to what the lake was like at the start of the 1990s.
Halfman said one of the biggest culprits for the high nutrient levels in the streams feeding into Seneca Lake has been the agriculture industry. He said the more agricultural land there is, the more nutrients will go into lake, adding the more nutrients there are in the lake, the greener it gets. Halfman said the trend is also indicating a majority of farms are not going organic, while a majority of animal farms are not going to reduce their size, but instead are going more toward "mega farms." He said these considerably add more nutrients to the streams, which then feed into the lake.