PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Health officials have cleared Lake Leland for recreational use, but Anderson Lake’s level of toxic bacteria remains high and it remains closed.
Clallam County’s Andy Brastad said Friday there have been no signs of dangerous bacteria in Clallam lakes.
“If things look like they would be highly suspect, we would test it,” said Brastad, Clallam County’s environmental health director.
“We have our eyes and our ears open.”
Health officials have locked the gates and posted warning signs around 70-acre Anderson Lake, a popular trout-fishing lake about a mile west of Chimacum.
In early June, cyanobacteria was found in levels in Anderson Lake that killed two dogs, make a third dog sick and was believed to have sickened at least seven persons who ate trout from the lake.
The lake, on state parkland, will not be re-opened until the toxic contamination dissipates.
Levels of cyanobacteria cells, known as microcystis, had fallen dramatically in Lake Leland water samples tested last week, according to results received late in the week.
Microcystis is one form of cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria — sometimes referred to as blue-green algae — is present in most bodies of water and usually causes no problems for humans or animals.
