LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “Lake Huntington looks like pea soup. In my lifetime, I can’t recall a six-week algae bloom like this one. Most last only a few days, at most. The Department of Environmental Control (DEC) has taken water samples and we’re awaiting test results.” With those remarks at the October 8 Cochecton Town Board meeting, Supervisor Gary Maas introduced a topic familiar but unpleasant to all who live, work or play near the lake. Asked if the DEC might impose a ban on recreational activities for the duration of the bloom, Maas said, “We’ll just have to wait and see what the DEC says.”

Maas blamed the unusually long bloom on the late-summer drought, but Councilmember Larry Richardson said the cause of all blue-green algae blooms is excessive nitrogen from fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide run-off. The bloom now seems to be subsiding, which Maas attributes to recent rainfall. With more rain forecast in the near future, the situation may soon resolve of its own accord before DEC action is required.

Earlier in the meeting, this year’s weather extremes made for good news. Highway Superintendent Kevin Esselman’s report noted that the town had hauled gravel out of almost-dry Callicoon Creek. Gravel deposited in the creek bed by repeated flooding over the years is thought to have contributed to this summer’s extreme flooding. When the Town of Delaware put out a request to neighboring towns to help themselves to the gravel in hope of eliminating future floods, Esselman found it to be of good quality and useful for filling in deep potholes and areas of road subsidence. He estimated the free gravel supply to save the town between $5,000 and $6,000.

Sewer officer Michael Walters again reported heavy unfiltered grease surges into the sewer plant. So far unable to solve the greasy waste water mystery, Walters and Maas have found what may be a temporary, although not inexpensive, solution to the problem. Biobricks are enzymatic agents that digest grease, making this biotech product much more effective than grease separators or dispersers. But the cost per 10-pound brick is $152, and Walters is unsure what weight brick and how many bricks will be required. In the meantime, Maas is determined to find the grease culprit(s), but declined to disclose publicly his detection strategies.

For complete meeting minutes and town governance information, see www.townofcochectonny.org/.