Only a few brave, closure notice-defying swimmers have ventured into Lake Champlain off Blanchard Beach in Burlington, Vermont over the past fifteen years. Englesby Brook, which empties into Lake Champlain nearby, carries many pollutants, making lake and beach recreation unsafe and undesirable. But now the city has sunk $2 million into an improvement program that catches most pollutants in holding ponds upstream.
"It is that kind of investment and that kind of commitment that makes a difference and can actually bring environmental resources like Lake Champlain back to public use," said Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss.
"For many, many years storm water was the pollutant that was ignored," said Lake Champlain Committee head Lori Fisher.
Fisher started a campaign to fund the Englesby Brook project, noting that now-retired Senators Leahy and Jeffords and Green Mountain Power had much to do with the cleanup's success.
A similar ponding project is now underway on Potash Brook, another area water source dirtying Lake Champlain's water. Land development is the main problem in this case; project coordinators are working to hold back storm water as much as possible, allowing pollutants to settle out or be filtered.
"I think storm water has become more of a household word than it was ten years ago. And that's a good thing," said Fisher. We all have to be mindful of it and mindful of how we contribute to it. But it's something that we have to continuously watch, especially as land converts. The fact that testing shows that coloform bacteria at Blanchard Beach are almost always at a safe level now is strong evidence that the Englesby improvements are working. But the reality is that storm water will always be a problem, especially after a heavy rain."
Source: WCAX-TV
