McHenry County Blog

An email to Wonder Lake residents  from Wonder Lake Master Property Owners Association President Dick Hilton:about the closure of Wonder Lake for Labor Day Weekend:

LAKE USE ALERT – PLEASE READ –

On advice of IL EPA

LAKE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Wonder Lake will be closed to ALL boating, water skiing, swimming & fishing until further notice.

Below is information received this afternoon from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency:

Subject: High Concentrations of Algal Toxins Found in Northern Illinois – Caution Should be Taken

Folks,

In the last couple of weeks, there have been a number of northern tier lakes that have been found to have the algal toxin “microcystin” in concentrations three orders of magnitude above the 20 ppb World Health Organization (WHO) guideline for recreational waters (e.g., above 20 ppb there is a high probability of adverse health effects).

Once found, IEPA and USGS conducted follow-up monitoring this past Wednesday and Thursday at ~8-10 sites (lakes and streams), again primarily in Northern Illinois. Results will not be available for the next few weeks.

My immediate need/desire to share this information with you is we desperately want to get the word out, today if possible, BEFORE the Labor Day Holiday weekend, that these conditions exist and the public should be cautioned not to use their favorite water resource if excessive algae is apparent, discolored scums are present, etc.

Late yesterday afternoon the attached IEPA Fact Sheet was developed, primarily fashioned after a fact sheet developed by the Iowa Department of Public Health. It talks about both blue green algae and algal toxins.

My recommendation to you?

Please distribute the following paragraph (or tweak/fashion as you see fit) and attached fact sheet to your membership ASAP.

Our and your goal obviously is not to “scare,” but to caution citizen and animal use of any water resource that exhibits nasty blue-green algae conditions. A picture is attached if you would like to use it with your distribution.

“A new fact sheet about blue green algae and the health risks to people and animals from exposure to algal toxins is now available.

“Weather patterns this summer have caused an increase in blue green algae and elevated toxin levels in some Illinois waterbodies.

“People should avoid contact with water that is discolored (heavy green, blue-green, yellow, brown, or red) or has algal scum on the surface and restrict the access of their pets and livestock to this water. This includes swimming, water skiing, tubing, and boating.”

Thanks so much to you quick attention to this matter.

Gregg Good, Manager
Surface Water Section, Bureau of Water
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

The following fact sheet was developed by the Iowa Department of Pubic Health:

BLUE-GREEN ALGAE and ALGAL TOXINS

 

Background

Blue-green algae are microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. Some blue-green algae can produce algal toxins that could pose a health risk to people and animals when they are exposed to them in large enough quantities. This fact sheet answers questions about blue-green algae and algal toxins.

What are blue-green algae?

Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. They are usually present in low numbers. However, blue-green algae can grow quickly and become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface waters that receive a lot of sunlight. When this occurs, they can form blooms that discolor the water or produce floating rafts or scums on the surface of the water. These blooms are primarily a concern during the summer months in Illinois.

Are blue-green algae or algal toxins harmful to my health?

Some blue-green algae produce algal toxins (e.g., microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, anatoxin, saxatoxin; the most common is microcystin) that could pose a health risk to people and animals when exposed to them in large enough quantities. Health effects could occur when surface scums or waters containing high levels of blue-green algae toxins are swallowed, come in contact with skin, or when airborne droplets containing toxins are inhaled while swimming, boating, water skiing, tubing, bathing or showering.

Recreational contact such as swimming and household contact such as bathing or showering with water not visibly affected by a blue – green algae bloom is not expected to cause health effects.

 

How do I know if I am being exposed to blue-green algae?

People should suspect that blue-green algae are present in water that is visibly discolored or that has surface scums. Colors can include shades of green, blue-green, yellow, brown, or red. Water affected by blue-green algae blooms often is so strongly colored that it can develop a paint-like appearance (see photos below).

The presence of toxins from algae can only be verified through laboratory analysis. Unpleasant tastes or odors are not reliable indicators of blue-green algae toxins or other toxic substances, because the algae may or may not also produce chemicals that affect the taste or odor of drinking water. Similarly, the absence of unpleasant tastes and odors does not guarantee the absence of blue-green algal toxins.

Can you get sick from blue-green algal toxins?

People can get sick from blue-green algal toxins if they have direct contact with a blue green algae bloom, by either intentionally or accidentally swallowing water, by having direct skin contact (as when swimming, wading, or showering), or by breathing airborne droplets containing the toxins, such as during boating or water skiing.

People should avoid contact with water that is discolored or has scum on the surface and restrict the access of their pets and livestock to this water. Pets can get sick if they have been swimming in water where algal blooms have been and ingest significant amounts of toxins by licking themselves after leaving the water.

Are children more vulnerable than adults to blue-green algal toxins?

Yes. Because of their comparatively low body weight, it takes fewer toxins to make children sick from exposure to blue green algae. In addition, children tend to have more sensitive skin than adults, so a skin rash or reaction is more likely. Children should always be supervised when swimming in any body of water.

Can I eat fish caught in water with high amounts of blue-green algae or algal toxins?

Toxins from algae can accumulate in the entrails (guts) of fish and occasionally in the muscle (filet) of fish. Levels in fish depend upon the severity of the bloom in the area where the fish are caught. In general, fish that are caught in areas of a waterbody where major blue-green algae blooms occur may be safe to eat, as long as the entrails of the fish are discarded. However, there is some uncertainty about the levels of algal toxins that can accumulate in filets, so anglers may want to wait until algal blooms are over before eating fish from waters where a bloom is occurring. Care should be taken that animals are not fed or allowed to eat the entrails of these fish.

How can I stop or reduce exposures to blue-green algae or algal toxins?

Never drink untreated surface water, whether or not algae blooms are present. Water from lakes, rivers, or streams may contain other bacteria, parasites or viruses, as well as algae toxins, that all could cause illness if consumed.

People should avoid contact with water that is discolored or has scum on the surface and restrict the access of their pets and livestock to this water. This includes swimming, water skiing, tubing, boating, etc. If contact does occur, wash with soap and water or rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove algae. This is especially important for pets (dogs) because they may lick the algae off their fur to clean themselves.

Seek medical attention if symptoms such as skin, eye or throat irritation, allergic reactions, or breathing difficulties occur while in contact with untreated surface water. These symptoms are unusual, but may occur in sensitive individuals due to exposure to low levels of blue-green algae.

A press release from the Crystal Lake Police Department about cars being set on fire in the subdivision just north of Hannah Beardsley Middle School:

Fire Investigations: Primrose Lane and Talcott Drive

On Monday, August 6th, 2012 at approximately 5:00am Crystal Lake Police and Fire responded to a report of a car fire in the 0-100 block of Talcott Drive.

Upon arrival, officers observed a Chevrolet SUV, parked in the driveway immediately adjacent to the single-family home, fully engulfed in flames.

A boat parked next to the SUV also was on fire.

Officers immediately evacuated the residents.

Crystal Lake Fire personnel extinguished the fire.

The SUV and boat were destroyed by the fire.

The home and a Chevrolet truck parked nearby sustained some damage due to the heat of the fire.

While on the scene of the Talcott Drive fire, officers were alerted to another event in the nearby 600 block of Primrose Lane.

The Primrose Lane resident reported unknown offender(s) had entered his Jeep and attempted to set it on fire.

The fire did not spread and little damage was sustained.

Another vehicle, a Toyota, parked in the same driveway had been unlawfully entered.

During the initial police investigation, officers were approached by another resident of the 0-100 block of Talcott Drive.

The resident reported someone had set her vehicle, a Buick, on fire, which resulted in some moderate damage.

No injuries were sustained as a result of any of the fires.

The investigation is active and ongoing.

Anyone with information relating to this investigation is asked to contact the Crystal Lake Police Department at 815 356-3620 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 762-STOP (7867) for those who wish to remain anonymous. Crime Stoppers does pay cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of any individual.

No only did the the Illinois Department of Natural Resources not send an envelope in which to send the $45 renewal fee, but its bill did not even have a return address.

What you see is what I got:

Give us a call.

Or pay online.

“We don’t want to process checks” seems to be the message.

There is an irony.

Take a look at the sticker on our pontoon boat.

It expires in 2013.

That’s next year.

So what is really going on at the Department of Natural Resources?

Is this an attempt to get people who don’t owe money to pay anyway?

So many questions.

After looking at the notice again, I see that it is for a boat we have not had for three years.

We junked it.

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney tells of the implementation of a criminal statute sponsored by the late State Senator Adeline Geo-Karis of Zion. She introduced the bill after a Chair-of-Lakes accident in which a drunk boater killed people.

Wonder Lake Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Boating Death

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that 55 year old Ricky McGuire, of Wonder Lake, was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offense of Operating a Watercraft under the Influence of Alcohol.

McGuire faced a possible sentence of probation or three to fourteen years in prison. McGuire was found guilty on September 17, 2010 after a five day jury trial. The jury deliberated for approximately three hours before finding the defendant guilty.

The trial testimony revealed that the defendant had a blood alcohol level of .179 when his boat collided with another watercraft on Wonder Lake in the early morning hours of July 6, 2008.

As a result of that collision, 21 year old Nicole Jurgens was killed. This case was investigated by Officer Rich Reidel of the Illinois Conservation Police.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Michael Combs and Patrick Kenneally.

While taking our boat to D’s Marina in McHenry, I found this p0ntoon.

I asked one of the guys about it and he said,

“Oh, you mean Noah’s Ark?”

He said it belonged to a minister of a church.

The message on the back is

God answers

prayers.  How can

we pray for you?

It’s from the Light House Church. The phone number is written beneath: 815-382-4223.

The church also seems to be known as “The Beacon.”

Right on top it says,

Shining the Light of Christ

on the Chain O’Lakes

News today is that a duck (a bus that also acts like a boat or as AP puts it “an amphibious sightseeing boat”) lost power in the Philadelphia harbor, was hit by a city-owned sludge barge and sank. Two passengers remain missing.

I would imagine that barges are pretty hard to maneuver.

When we were in Montreal in June we took a duck tour of the old part of the city and the harbor.

First we went down the street on which the old warehouses faced.

Past old courthouses and the newest “Palais de Justice” that is so ugly that locals call it “the Toaster.”  The architecture of the latter is so totally out of place among its old neighbors that its construction led to rules to prevent future monstrosities.

Of political interest was the parking lot which is located where Canada’s first parliament building was.

Past the famous cathedral.

Then it was off to the harbor.

We went on a road right below what used to block most of the riverfront–grain elevators. All but this one has been torn down.

The road ran next to an old canal.

It led to this ramp.

The sign showed how steep the ramp was.

Unlike Philadelphia, we saw few boats in the harbor.  There was this three mast sailing ship.

A barge was there, too, but it was docked.

The harbor was calm.

The calmness, the guild told us, was a function of this peninsula built of dirt and rock when Montreal’s subway was excavated.

But, at the point the peninsula meets the St. Laurence River, there was much turbulence.

The river was not as swift before the peninsula was created.  My high school physics tells me that the increase in its speed was perfectly predictable. Bernoulli’s principle, right?

Today I wondered what would have happened if our duck had lost power and been drawn into the current and pushed downstream.

As we were heading back to the ramp, the tour guild pointed to a building with holes in its side.

She said there were to make the skyscraper better able to withstand an earthquake.

“But Montreal never has earthquakes,” she added.

The next day, as we were driving south through New York State, Montreal and presumably our car was shaken by an earthquake centered in nearby Ottawa, Quebec.

More photos were taken of the skyline.

It was time to end the tour.

We got a really good view of the end of the canal’s locks.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the accident.