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Article: Scientists Can't Explain Algae Outbreak
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- October 5, 2007
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Associated Press/AP Online. This material is published under license from the publisher through YellowBrix, Alexandria, Virginia. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to YellowBrix. (Hide copyright information)
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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - When runaway algae killed fish and fouled beaches in the Great Lakes region decades ago, governments ordered cutbacks of phosphorus - a key algae nutrient - from laundry detergents and sewage treatment plants.
It worked, for a while, but scientists acknowledge there are no simple solutions for a recent algae outbreak that is littering shorelines with stinky muck, and it may be responsible for die-offs of loons and other water birds.
"We've done all the easy stuff," Harvey Bootsma, a University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee scientist, said during a conference this week on Lake Michigan environmental problems.
Another crackdown on phosphorus from sources such as ...