Corey McDonald - vtdigger - May 15, 2024
Olivia Lyons - WCAX - Jun 27, 2019
A specialized aeration system was unveiled Thursday afternoon at Lake Carmi. It's the only whole lake aeration system in Vermont and one of the largest systems ever designed, with over 40 miles of airline, 80 diffusers and two compressor systems.
Scientists explore deterioration of cleanest lakes in Vermont
Elizabeth Gribkoff - VTDigger - June 17, 2018
... the water quality in Vermont’s most polluted lakes is actually improving, a little, but the quality of its cleanest lakes is deteriorating
Farmers plea for help
Tom Benton - St. Albans Messanger - June 8, 2018
Farmers say they're being unfairly targeted over pollution in Lake Carmi
House bill declares Lake Carmi ‘in crisis’
A dairy expands near polluted lakes, putting regulators to the test
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Mar 13, 2018
Franklin takes a $10,000 step toward cleaning up Lake Carmi
Farm agency assails crisis intervention effort on Lake Carmi
Lawmakers are now considering a bill, H.730, that would declare Lake Carmi a state of emergency and require immediate cleanup.“Most of these farms are actually going out of business and selling their farms, so things are turning in a different direction due to economics, and then we’re in the middle of trying to make these investments, and frankly, at some level, there’s also a choice of: Is it a good investment, if the farm’s not going to be there,”
‘Lake in crisis’ targeted with new legislation
Tensions High at Lake Carmi Meeting
St. Albans Messenger - Aug 26, 2016
The Town of Franklin's weed harvester sits on the Lake Carmi shore earlier this week. Mechanical difficulties have plagued the machine since arrival on the lake last year.
Blue Green Algae Fills Lake Carmi
Megan Carpenter - My Champlain Valley FOX44 & ABC22 - Oct 8, 2015
Algae Bloom Prompts Officials To Close Lake Carmi Beach
State officials have decided to begin removing an aeration system in Lake Carmi and may soon move forward with an alum treatment after finding the system actually exacerbated conditions creating harmful cyanobacteria in the lake ... But the system repeatedly malfunctioned, making it difficult for state officials to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the system ... The system worked by sending compressed air through a tube to a “manifold,” which shot the air into 40 different pipes spread out at the bottom of the lake ... Officials found it had “unintended consequences” of mixing phosphorus-rich bottom water with the rest of the lake, according to minutes from an April 16 meeting of the state’s Lake Carmi Coordination Team ... Lake Morey, in Fairlee, had a “very successful” alum treatment in 1986 and is in “better shape” since the treatment ...
Guy Page - Vermont Daily Chronicle - May 16, 2024
Aeration has been effective in other lakes but does not seem to be good solution for Lake Carmi. The equipment will be removed this fall. A removal plan is in process.
Amanda Martin-Ryan - NBC5 - May 16, 2024
... For the DEC, their plan B is aluminum sulfate treatments. It’s already gone through a feasibility study commissioned by the state, which estimated costs of alum treatments to be $2.6 million. It’s more money coming out of the state’s pockets, but good news, the process is already effective at another lake in the state ... If things go according to plan while following state and EPA regulations, the DEC hopes to start alum treatments by the spring of 2025.
Links: UVM Lake Carmi Platform Data, Vermont Department of Health Lake Conditions, Current Status of Vermont State Parks Recreational Water
Archive
Jackie DiBartolomeo - Saint Albans Messenger - Sep 12, 2023
John Costa, who has camped along Lake Carmi since the 1970s, said even though storms last Thursday night cleared out and turned over much of the blue-green algae, it is still present in the 1,375-acre lake. “We get into these totally dead, warm, humid days with plenty of sunshine, and it just came out like a bomb…in some areas it was extending 300, 400 feet,” he said. ... Pierson said alum application is the most common strategy to target lake internal loading events. Though it has only been used in Vermont twice before, ANR thinks it could be successful in Lake Carmi ... If alum treatment is approved, along with funding and permitting, ANR will also work next year to ensure that the alum treatment is done in compliance with its water quality standards.
Lake Carmi advocates ask for more funding, treatment options, as algae blooms continue
Shaun Robinson - vtdigger - October 9, 2022
Advocates for improving the water quality of Lake Carmi want state officials to provide more money for cleanup efforts directed at the troubled Franklin County body of water, following yet another summer marked by pervasive cyanobacteria blooms.
Shaun Robinson - vtdigger - October 9, 2022
Advocates for improving the water quality of Lake Carmi want state officials to provide more money for cleanup efforts directed at the troubled Franklin County body of water, following yet another summer marked by pervasive cyanobacteria blooms.
Shaun Robinson - vtdigger - May 29, 2022
It’s been almost five years since Vermont officials declared Lake Carmi to be the state’s first “lake in crisis,” ... At the time, efforts to clean up the state’s fourth-largest lake, and its watershed, were already underway ... Oliver Pierson, who manages the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lakes and Ponds Program, noted the state’s estimate is based on modeling because it has no way to definitively measure the flow of external phosphorus into the lake. Despite this progress, Lake Carmi still faces persistent challenges from internal phosphorus that has built up in the lake sediment for decades. According to Pierson, this “legacy” contamination could take decades to address.
Links: Lake Morey
vtdigger - August 29, 2021
Lakes Morey and Fairlee are sparking the concern of state scientists who want to act before levels of cyanobacteria, which creates blue-green blooms in the water and is toxic to humans and pets, reach a tipping point. One of the biggest reasons for the slimy, sometimes deadly blooms is increased phosphorus levels and nutrient-rich runoff as a byproduct of human development. But they’re pushing to get ahead of the problem.
VT Agriculture - August 10, 2020
State and federal watershed investments reduced an estimated 251 kilograms (kg) of phosphorus loading in SFY 2019, which is estimated to be approximately 41% of the phosphorus reduction required to meet the Lake Carmi Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load.
A specialized aeration system was unveiled Thursday afternoon at Lake Carmi. It's the only whole lake aeration system in Vermont and one of the largest systems ever designed, with over 40 miles of airline, 80 diffusers and two compressor systems.
Scientists explore deterioration of cleanest lakes in VermontElizabeth Gribkoff - VTDigger - June 17, 2018
... the water quality in Vermont’s most polluted lakes is actually improving, a little, but the quality of its cleanest lakes is deteriorating
Farmers plea for help
Tom Benton - St. Albans Messanger - June 8, 2018
Local farmers gathered around Gov. Phil Scott at Mike and Denna Benjamin’s Riverview Farm Friday morning. The purpose of Scott’s visit was ostensibly to learn about the farm’s environmentally conscious methods, since Lake Carmi is literally down the road.
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Apr 23 2018
In an Earth Day press event with supporters, held near Lake Carmi, the most polluted body of water in Vermont, gubernatorial candidate James Ehlers took aim at the dairy industry ... Ehlers said industrial farming has been a bad deal for Vermonters... "We need to embrace small farms, the farms who have the ability to both feed us and protect the environment,” ... he supports a $2 hotel tax fee proposed by lawmakers to support clean water mitigation efforts.
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Apr 20, 2018
Ellen Bartlett and Mike Polhamus - VTDigger - Apr 12, 2018
Lake Carmi has been under a federal order since 2008 to reduce the levels of phosphorus in the water. The Environmental Protection Agency order contains a reference to farms contributing 85 percent of the lake phosphorus, with camps and other sources contributing seven percent.On Thursday the farmers of the Lake Carmi watershed had a chance to have their say.Farmers say they're being unfairly targeted over pollution in Lake Carmi
Neal Goswami - WCAX - Apr 12, 2018
University of Vermont Agronomist Heather Darby says soil tests from farms in the Lake Carmi watershed show appropriate levels of phosphorus on most of the farmland."I can clearly say those soils have not had phosphorus overapplied to them," Darby said.
Pat Bradley - WAMC - Apr 13, 2018
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Mar 15, 2018
The bill, H. 730, gives the Secretary of Natural Resources broad authority to designate as in crisis any lake in the state that has been determined to pose potential harm to public health, a risk to the environment or natural resources, or if it threatens to reduce the value of real property in any municipality in which the lake or a portion of the lake is located.
Even in winter, Lake Carmi stirs worry
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Mar 14, 2018
Residents worry green ice in frozen Lake Carmi is a sign of cyanobacteria.
A dairy expands near polluted lakes, putting regulators to the testMike Polhamus - VT Digger - Mar 13, 2018
Pleasant Valley Farms built one of the state’s largest farming operations last year, in one of Vermont’s most polluted watersheds, without a permit, according to documents obtained by VTDigger.
Pleasant Valley Farms built one of the state’s largest farming operations last year, in one of Vermont’s most polluted watersheds, without a permit, according to documents obtained by VTDigger.Franklin takes a $10,000 step toward cleaning up Lake Carmi
Mike Polhamus VT Digger - Mar 8, 2018
Franklin residents voted Tuesday in favor of spending $10,000 toward the cost of an aeration device that the Agency of Natural Resources says might prevent or lessen the severity of cyanobacteria blooms caused by farm pollution in Lake Carmi.
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Feb 25, 2018
‘Lake in crisis’ targeted with new legislation
Mike Polhamus - Feb 9 2018
Lake Carmi homeowners ask Vt. House for emergency response
Stewart Ledbetter - NBC5 - Feb 9, 2018
Homeowners living near Lake Carmi are urging lawmakers to approve emergency measures to restrict phosphorus runoff from entering the lake.
VT Digger -Dec 4 2017
While only words, it is a sign of a significant change in the narrative involving Vermont’s sacred cow – Big Dairy. Now the public awaits some real action from the state’s political and regulatory leaders to back up the talk and “concern.” This is not about “picking on the farmers,” either. It’s about getting out from under a system of farming – industrial, commodity and confinement-based – that is threatening all of us, farmers included.
Mike Polhamus - VT Digger - Nov 21 2017
Residents fired up over toxic algae in Lake Carmi told lawmakers Monday that agriculture — a source of phosphorus feeding the algae — should no longer be exempt from most of the state’s land-use laws.
“We are under siege from industrial waste and industrial farming,” said Robert Cormier, who lives a quarter-mile from the lake’s shore.
Renee Wunderlich - NBC5 - Nov 20, 2017
"It was so toxic-smelling that if you got near it, you had to back away immediately,” said John Barrows, who camps at Lake Carmi. "We need help -- and we need it this year. We don't need a five-year plan or a 10-year plan or a 20-year plan -- we need a one-year plan,” ...
Lake Carmi Pollution Triggers Call for Stricter Regulation of Dairy Farms
Pond Restoration Project One Of Many Hoped To Improve Lake Carmi Water Quality
Lake Carmi Pollution Triggers Call for Stricter Regulation of Dairy Farms
Molly Walsh - Seven Days - Nov 8, 2017
Franklin County is home to 141 dairy farms, more than any other county in Vermont. It's unclear how many are in the Lake Carmi watershed. As of the 2009 state study, there were just five. But counting farms, or cows, isn't the only measure of agricultural impact. A significant acreage of former pastureland in the watershed is leased to grow hay and corn for cows nearby. These fields are often spread with trucked-in manure and commercial fertilizers.
Mitch Wertlieb & Melody Bodette - Vermont Public Radio - Nov 6, 2017
A pond with high levels of soluable phosphorus was drained and cleared out. The pond sits above Lake Carmi, visible in the distance, and was thought to contribute to algea blooms in the lake.
John Walters - 7 days - Oct. 20 2017
A routine series of water quality meetings about the Lake Carmi watershed have become strained in recent months, leading a state official to request the presence of game wardens at the latest meeting Thursday night.
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Oct. 20, 2017
Peter Hirschfield - VPR - Oct. 20 2017
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Oct. 7, 2017
The Franklin Watershed Committee (FWC) considered legal action against the State of Vermont at its regular meeting Thursday night.
Tom Benton - Vermont Public Radio - Oct 4, 2017
Lake Carmi is still infested with cyanobacteria, more than 30 days after warning signs were first placed along its shoreline.
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Sep. 29, 2017
Emily Boedecker, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s commissioner, promised residents at the Lake Carmi TMDL Implementation Team meeting Thursday night the most physically apparent step the State has yet taken to clean up the lake: the purchase and installation of a pilot aeration system for one of Carmi’s most polluted portions within the next year.
Jostein Solheim - VT Digger - Sep 27 2017
Ben & Jerry’s recognizes that we are connected to the farms in the Lake Carmi watershed. To improve conditions at Lake Carmi and in watersheds across the state, we need to work collaboratively: neighbors, farmers, co-ops, businesses, and the state of Vermont. We need to ensure that existing regulations are robust enough to protect Vermont’s waterways and are consistently and thoroughly enforced.
Mike Polhamus VT Digger - Sep 17 2017
A toxic cyanobacteria bloom has kept Lake Carmi in northern Vermont closed for the past three weeks, and officials are hoping to introduce oxygen into the lake as a short-term fix.
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Sep. 14, 2017
“This is ten times anything I’ve ever seen,” John Barrows, the former head of the Franklin Watershed Committee, said prior to the meeting. “I’m hoping for action. Not a plan. Action.”
Associated Press - Sept. 14, 2017
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Sep. 14, 2017
The state department of health listed the Lake Carmi State Park, Dewing Road and north beach as being on high alert as of press time. The department of health also listed, for the first time, open water at the south end of the lake and near the outlet stream as being on high alert.
Tom Benton - Saint Albans Messanger - Sep. 14, 2017
“we can’t make progress fast enough. That’s the biggest frustration, maybe for people around the lake and, I think, for our farmers as well.”
The Town of Franklin's weed harvester sits on the Lake Carmi shore earlier this week. Mechanical difficulties have plagued the machine since arrival on the lake last year.
Blue Green Algae Fills Lake Carmi
Megan Carpenter - My Champlain Valley FOX44 & ABC22 - Oct 8, 2015
Algae Bloom Prompts Officials To Close Lake Carmi Beach
Taylor Dobbs - Vermont Public Radio - Aug 19, 2015
Town Clerk Lisa Larivee said a lake monitor – trained to spot cyanobacteria by the Vermont Department of Health in partnership with the Lake Champlain Committee – contacted the town about a bloom of the bacteria.
