Residents on Pelee Island are taking proactive measures to ensure blue-green algae isn't as big a problem as it was two years ago when it affected the island's drinking water.
Municipal officials are holding what Mayor Rick Masse calls "a mini-summit" with members of the Ministry of the Environment, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the Essex Region Conservation Authority. It's an opportunity to share with residents what they know about the conditions that make it more likely for blue-green algae to grow in the waters surrounding Pelee Island, how to test drinking water for the toxins it emits and the impact those toxins have on public health.
Masse says so far; it hasn't been an issue this year.
"It's still a little bit early, and there's a lot of variables," he says. "I'm sure it'll come before the year is out."
While algae wasn't a persistent problem last summer, it was the summer before.
"Because we didn't really understand what was going on, we had to err on the side of caution," says Masse. "The board of health had shut down all our drinking water systems and the only place on the island that you were able to get drinking water was from the municipal water treatment plant."
Many residents have well water systems.
The island is home to about 200 residents year-round, and 1,000 during the summer months.