Vt. flooding raises Lake Champlain pollution concerns

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The continued flooding of Lake Champlain could worsen pollution worries because of the high amount of phosphorus dumped into the lake from flooded farm fields.

Eric Smeltzer, an environmental scientist with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, says during the snowmelt and heavy rains of the last week of April, the Winooski River dumped about 77 metric tons of phosphorus into the lake. That’s about half of what the river puts in the lake in a typical year.

He says phosphorus could contribute to an increase in toxic algae blooms in the lake this summer.

The lake has receded with the dry weather in recent days, but it is still past flood stage.

Disaster specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in Vermont, assessing the damage.