Description
This is a photo of the Harbor Isle Lake (entrance lobe) shoreline, near a public sidewalk, that has a significant visible blue-green algae or BGA (cyanobacteria) bloom spread over more than 100 feet of shoreline and 10 to 20 feet offshore. It’s bright green in color with medium to heavy streaking.
The last known toxin samples for Harbor Isle Lake were collected in June and July 2023 and indicated a significant rise in Microcystin levels from prior months. Yet the City’s contract with Stantec for water sampling expired without any notification to the residents/public of the discontinued lake water monitoring and testing by either Mr. Michael Perry – Lake Manager or Mr. Roger Johnson – Project Manager (both subordinates in Mr. Claude Tankersley - Public Works Administrator Departments).
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What are the present toxin levels in Harbor Isle Lake offshore and along the shoreline in the scum areas (like the photo illustrates)?
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Past shoreline BGA scum areas were tested by the DEP and had measured Microcystin values exceeding 500 ppb – extremely high toxin values.
Mr. Michael Perry – Lake Manager has ignored and refused to answer questions regarding why toxin and water quality testing by the City has ceased. Mr. Michael Perry has not publically made available his 2 prior Harbor Isle Lake Update letters and has delayed and not produced his 2 other scheduled (but now months late) Harbor Isle Lake Update letters for residents with his Harbor Isle Lake Remediation Project plans, analysis and summary information.
Mr. Roger Johnson – Project Manager has ignored and refused to inform the residents/public regarding the City selected and only viable solution to be an estimated $15 million dollar dredging project - to remove the 575,000 cubic yards of nutrient filled sediment placed in Harbor Isle Lake by the City and USACE more than 20 years ago during their Harbor Isle Lake Fill Project.
Ms. Julie Vogel – (a new Direct Subordinate of Mr. Johnson) has been introduced by Mr. Michael Perry as a person knowledgeable about the Harbor Isle Lake’s water quality issues, yet she has not responded to what her role or responsibilities on the Harbor Isle Lake Remediation project are.
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Please, test Harbor Isle Lake (City managed retention pond) water and these shoreline BGA scums immediately for toxin levels to ensure the safety and cognizance of all Harbor Isle residents and visitors still being exposed to this toxic BGA for more than five years.
4 Comments
Acknowledged St Pete Service Center 1 (Verified Official)
Thank you for reporting this issue to us via SeeClickFix St. Pete. We have forwarded the details you provided to the Stormwater Department so they may investigate and take any necessary action. Sincerely, St. Pete Service Center
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Long time Harbor Isle Resident (Registered User)
Mr. Michael Perry - SPTO Lake Manager has not published or made available to the public his (2) prior Harbor Isle Lake Remediation Update documents created by himself. In addition, in his last Update document, he produced a chart that displays toxin levels over a very limited time range with an arbitrary smoothed spline fit curve (without any actual data points identified) to suggest to a reader that Microcystin toxin health risks are reduced and the toxin is declining to zero, and therefore testing is no longer required.
However, the chart (in this comment) displays the concentration of Microcystin toxin for all 75 water samples taken by DEP and City contractor Stantec for Harbor Isle Lake over the past 5 years. Please note that towards the right hand side of the chart near the yellow box identifying “ALL TESTING HALTED”, the last 2 gold/yellow dots for June and July 2023 are significantly higher than prior months. This data indicates the strong possibility of another increasing trend of lake toxicity (like many high to low transitions in the past that reversed over time) together with the additional continued BGA blooms with various intensities and densities.
For more detailed explanations of the data diagrammed on this chart and a complete table of all data taken with detailed observations and notes, see the Harbor Isle Lake Journal website link: https://sites.google.com/view/harborislelakejournal/fl-dep-toxin-data-charts
Long time Harbor Isle Resident (Registered User)
This chart is an excerpt from Mr. Michael Perry’s May 2023 Harbor isle Lake Update letter that was never posted anywhere for public inspection or review. It shows only a biased small subset of all the toxin data collected and includes no nutrients - like nitrogen and phosphorus data or any other water quality data and their trend analysis. In fact Mr. Perry admits that there has been no trends for other parameters in his explanation. However, with inconclusive and limited toxin data in the City’s possession, there has been no attempts either before and while Mr. Perry has been Lake Manager, to collect the necessary data to either 1) ensure the safety of Harbor Isle residents and the public or 2) to gain a better understanding of the biological mechanisms and conditions for the present BGA bloom to permanently reduce or eliminate BGA in Harbor Isle Lake.
Mr. Perry has only stated in the past that he is not required to collect any data for Harbor Isle Lake nor is he required to inform any of the public. However, Mr. Perry as a Professional Engineer and the City’s Lake Manager has not only the responsibility but the obligation to the public that he so blatantly has shunned. For these actions, Mr. Perry has received without any performance reviews in the public record multiple promotions and significant unjustified raises in just the past 18 months.
Mr. Perry is well aware of the time sensitive nature of any request for collecting BGA water samples due to changing weather conditions and the elusive nature of BGA but has chosen to ignore and not responded in any way. Mr. Perry is also knowledgeable that due to the microscopic nature of the cyanobacteria, only a laboratory analysis would indicate the actual toxin levels present. Irrespective to Mr. Perry or any other City Staff’s inspection and whether there are any observable BGA surface scums or streaking or if there is only clearly visible BGA particulate in the water column on close inspection, water samples should be taken and be analyzed for BGA toxins.
This response by the City is essentially the same type of response that Mr. Perry’s supervisor at the time Mr. Carlos Frey (no longer a City employee) gave to residents, 5 years ago. So after 5 years of Mr. Claude Tankersley’s corrective actions and directives, his subordinates continue to ignore and cover up this problem without any change in responses. Delay, ignore and obfuscate without any regard for the health related safety and concern of Harbor Isle residents and St. Petersburg citizens.
Closed SPTO Environmental 1 (Verified Official)
Thank you for your concerns and the attached photo and description. We will use this information as well as our own investigations to determine if additional action is required in the form of testing or chemical treatments. Monthly testing for water quality trends as well as an alum application is currently being negotiated by the City as recommended by the adaptive management plan for this stormwater lake. We plan on this work to begin in the first quarter of 2024.
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