SHORELINES

29 Shor e l i n e S | 2016 Vol :3 water. The plant has three layers, the first of which usually dies during the first month of summer. The dead lyngbya produces the greenish-brown, musty-smelling mats, sometimes mistaken for sewage. Lovelace first spotted lyngbya on the eastern part of the lake sloughs, which have less water flow. Almost overnight, the couple turned into an algae cleanup team, working from their 200-square-foot aluminum boat to remove the unattractive "floating carpet" from the slough. "We'd pull the algae toward us and roll it up," Lovelace says. "Charlene would hand me one section of algae at a time, and I'd pull it into the boat. It's about 70 to 80 percent water. I'd squeeze out the water, roll the lyngbya into softballs and put them in seven or eight 5-gallon plastic buckets. "Over five years, we figured that we removed about 30,000 pounds of the stuff," he says. "And it doesn't burn – we tried that. It only dries." The couple dumped the lyngbya at a right of way for disposal. "I've seen all kinds of problems on the water, but there ain't nothin' that can happen as bad as this," Lovelace says. "It's a disgusting thing." Lyngbya is nothing new to employees in Alabama Power Environmental Affairs. Company employees have worked to rid lyngbya from lakes Jordan, Lay and Mitchell for more than 25 years, says Wes Anderson, team leader for Environmental Affairs. In 1990, the company called in Clemson University Chairman of Environmental Toxicology John Rodgers to research ways to rid the lakes of the algae. This renowned chemist is well- acquainted with the notorious water plant. "I consider lyngbya as being among the top 10 worst natural environmental enemies I've seen in my 42-year career," Rodgers says. During a five-year study, Rodgers evaluated algaecides and a safe treatment plan to control and kill lyngbya. In October 2004, Rodgers joined Anderson in talks with Lake Jordan HOBO members about future treatments. Lovelace recalls hearing Rodgers speak at two Jordan HOBO meetings. When Lovelace saw that the algaecide was effective, he became a believer and stopped his lyngbya cleanups. Anderson and Environmental Affairs Specialist Josh Yerby continue to work with manufacturers in improving treatment options, resulting in significant cost savings and greatly increasing effectiveness and environmental benefits. "We've worked with the algaecide makers and developed best practices for geographic information systems (GIS) Above Left: Photo by Ted Tucker — Josh Yerby holds up a handful of lyngbya. Above Right: Photo by Ted Tucker — Fred Lovelace shows a photo of a lyngbya bloom at his boathouse from 10 years ago.

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