Sources Of Pollution In Lake Carmi

sources have been indicated as contributing to the phosphorus levels in Lake Carmi, as well as the continuing pollution. These other sources include the septic tanks of the over 300 shoreline properties, reduced and/or diminished buffer zones between roadways and fields near the shorelines of the lake, as well as the eroding ditches and culverts which deliver sediment to the lake.

During the late summer and fall of 2017, uproar throughout the town of Franklin has led to multiple legislature meetings, proposed plans and bills to address the lakes current condition and continuing pollution. Although there is evidence of multiple sources of pollution, local farmland runoff has been deemed the main pollution source and has taken center stage.

For years residence have been advocating for “stricter state regulation of agricultural operations.”5 The residents near to Lake Carmi assign the high levels of phosphate in the lake to the nearby farmers who spread phosphorus-rich manure on the fields in the watershed. These residence also indicated the lax regulation of dairy farms in Vermont as allowing for the continuation of pollution in the lake. Following these accusations, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Anson Tebbetts rejected this idea, stated the farmers are committed to doing the right thing and are already heavily regulated under other state laws and rules. Many residence feel strongly Vermont’s Act 250 exempts farms from rules that other businesses are bound by. In an article published by Seven Days, these farms have been indicated as generating “85 percent of the phosphorous pollution in Lake Carmi, according to a 2009 Vermont Agency of Natural Resources study, and have contributed to algae blooms dating back to 1976.”6
Most recently, a local farmer was granted $60,000 from the Federal clean water funding to empty one of their ponds, scrape manure-saturated sludge from the bottom and spread the material on an adjacent field. This project was the result of years of surrounding residence indicating runoff from this pond into a stream feeding the lake. State officials later acknowledged that tests of the water from Lake Carmi suggested high levels of phosphorus were running from the manure-saturated pond via a stream into the lake. This incident provided evidence for Vermont’s lax agricultural regulations, as well as indicating former agriculture operations, were no rules existed, as presenting future and present environmental problems. Many residence were upset with the event, especial with the failure to levy fines, considering the years of negotiation before the farmer agreed to permit the process, as well as the use of public tax dollars to fund the cleanup.
Concerned community members, specifically those who live on the shoreline, voiced concern for the condition of the lake reducing property value, especially when paying this year’s taxes; “80 of the town’s homeowners let their displeasure be known when they paid taxes on land around the lake that they believe is now overvalued ‘because they’re not getting the full benefit of their properties’ as a result of the pollution.”7 Concerns for health have also been raised due to the foul smell, and the recent ban on swimming during the late summer and fall of 2017 by the state who also advised residents not to touch the water.
The owner of one of the 200 or so lakeshore properties, Dick Benton, stated in an article published by Seven Days, “‘it’s killing us. I’ve been on the lake since 1970, and this is the first year I’ve ever seen it this bad’.”8 With a history of the presence of cyanobacteria recorded back in 1976, the water quality in Lake Carmi have been monitored by the Vermont Lay and Spring Phosphorus Monitoring Programs since 1980. The measurements, taken from the center of the lake, from these two programs have provided evidence of improving summertime water quality, however “watershed residents indicate that the quality of waters in the lake margins has declined