CADILLAC \u2014 Layers of green algae scum lapped against the northeast shore of Lake Cadillac on Friday afternoon, shortly after officials confirmed a harmful algae bloom.<\/p>\n
The District Health Department No. 10 confirmed the algae bloom with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), according to a Friday press release.<\/p>\n
Signs urging people to avoid contact with the lake lined the shore parallel to the Keith McKellop walkway on Friday. “When in doubt, keep yourself, children and pets out!” they read.<\/p>\n
Photos shared by DHD No. 10 show the algae near the Clam River dam and Chestnut Street boat launch. The Cadillac News has reached out for comment regarding any other locations.<\/p>\n
Several pedestrians along the lake on Friday said they had noticed the green water.<\/p>\n
“It looks gross, I wouldn’t swim in it,” said Cadillac resident Joe Meekhof, resting mid-way through a bike ride.<\/p>\n
Meekhof said he started noticing the water turn green last week.<\/p>\n
“I thought they were treating the water at first, but it kept getting more and more green,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harmful algae blooms can form when waterways have high nutrient levels combined with warm temperatures, DHD No. 10 said.<\/p>\n
Exposure can cause health problems in people, including skin rashes, respiratory symptoms, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness and difficulty breathing. Severe exposure or ingestion can be fatal.<\/p>\n
Health officials also warned that harmful algae blooms can be particularly dangerous to pets.<\/p>\n
“We were at the Depot getting lunch, and I thought about letting the dogs take a drink,” said Grand Rapids resident Craig Burgess, who was passing through town with his wife, Staci. “I’m glad I stopped because I saw it and thought, ‘Oh, that’s a little green.'”<\/p>\n
People who come into contact with potentially affected water should leave the area and shower or thoroughly rinse pets with clean, fresh water, according to DHD No. 10. Anyone who believes they or their pet may have been exposed to or ingested algal toxins should seek medical or veterinary treatment.<\/p>\n
Officials also advise against drinking untreated surface water and recommend following posted health advisories and limiting or avoiding fish caught in affected areas.<\/p>\n
This story is developing. Check back for updates.<\/p>\n
Daniel Schoenherr’s position is funded through Report for America and local fund-raising. To help continue local reporting please consider contributing to the Cadillac Area Community Foundation\u2019s Local Journalism Fund at\u00a0www.justgiving.com\/cadillacareacommunityfoundation<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CADILLAC \u2014 Layers of green algae scum lapped against the northeast shore of Lake Cadillac on Friday afternoon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[60819,4,450,53003,192,106297,451,20431,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-828987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-algae","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cadillac","tag-environment","tag-harmful-algae-bloom","tag-headlines","tag-lake","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}