MIKE BRAUN Lake Erie dead zone prompts research

Scientists and researchers will be gathering information this summer in an attempt to find out why Lake Erie is again having to deal with a dead zone.
A section of oxygen-depleted water formed at the bottom of the lake's central basin last summer and is expected to do so again this year. Why the zone formed and what it means for the lake will be the focus of water and sediment sampling and examination of the lake's biota, said Dr. Gerald Matisoff, a geo-chemist at Case Western Reserve University.
Matisoff is participating in the lake study, which is expected to take two years to collect and examine sediment and determine a cause for the phenomenon.
Matisoff, the lead U.S. researcher among about 30 involved in the study, said the bottom line is the area of no oxygen that is occurring in the lake's large central basin.
He said the problem could cause massive fish kills in the coming months or years. "Hints of the problem could come in late August," Matisoff said, with bad odor in drinking water or even posted beaches because of toxins in the water.
All but dead
In the past, the lake had been considered all but dead until a massive cleanup program enabled it to become a viable body of water. A cleaner Lake Erie is in constant demand for recreation and revenue as well as a source of drinking water.
Matisoff said the low oxygen levels can and do occur naturally in many bodies of water but sometimes are made worse by the addition of people into the ecosystem.
He added that addition of the non-native zebra mussel species into the lake several years ago changed the ecological dynamic of the lake and could have contributed to the current problem.
"Zebra mussels could be a culprit," he said. "They changed the way the lake acts."
This summer's research will include the use of the Lake Guardian, a research vessel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that will collect samples of water and sediment. Also involved will be an 8-boat fleet of vessels that will scan the central basin.
To take time
"It will take a while to get all the data from the test results," Matisoff said.
The problem area is confined to the deeper central basin area, according to recent reports.
An Associated Press report earlier this week said that this spring, the EPA found water samples heavily clouded with algae and other forms of floating plant life.
Too much algae is a sign that nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen are overabundant -- a combination that eventually creates a barren region beneath the surface. In effect, the nutrients enrich the lake to death, the AP reported.
Other possible causes for the problem, according to Matisoff and others, include other non-native species' changing the lake ecology, excess sewage dumping and global warming.
braun@vindy.com