PI Bay Delisted, Other Problems Could Arise

Just three months ago Presque Isle Bay was taken off the federal watch list after being deemed an area of concern, but now a new issue could be arising.

Twenty years ago, the bay was put on a federal list as one of 43 areas of concerns in the United States... Experts have researched the bay and found the reason to be contaminated tumors on brown bullhead catfish.

Back in December, the bay was de-listed, and is no longer deemed an area of concern.

Now? Experts are focusing all of their efforts into making sure the bay stays off the list by monitoring the fish and emerging contaminants.

But VP of the Sons of Lake Erie Ed Kissell is concerned with the health of the community, after the massive amounts of dead fish that are washed up on the shore.

Even though the bay has been taken off the federal watch list experts are still concerned with toxic blue-green algae that could present a threat to the bay.

Park Manager Harry Leslie tells us if that would happen to come to this area of PA it literally could shut down swimming and would be a major impact on tourism and economy.

As of now, Leslie says it's hard to tell where the algae spread will go; it depends on the temperatures and nutrients in the water.