Chemicals Poisoning Water in Western New York?

Whether you realize it or not, we have a great resource that sits right on our shores with the Great Lakes. Having direct access to around 6 quadrillion gallons of
fresh water, which is about 20% of the amount on the whole planet, is a good thing.

However, we haven't always taken care of our water in a way that we should. You can just look around New York State to see that play out in real life. The Empire State has the unique distinction to have both the worlds cleanest and world dirtiest lakes in our border.

Since the terrible days of when we abused our waterways, governments and non-profit groups have been doing a lot of work to help clean things up. This however leads us to a key question about the chemicals that are going into the Great Lakes and it's tributaries.

Chemicals Poisoning Water in Western New York?

In an announcement made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, government officials are getting ready to release a bunch of chemicals into some of the tributary waters that feed into Lake Erie.

The Great Lakes have had a serious issue with Sea Lamprey, a parasitic self-sustaining populations of invasive species that is sometimes called a vampire fish. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, has been doing a lot of work to kill this species of fish that first made its way into North America in the mid-1800s.

To continue to fight against these water born vampire fish, government officials will be releasing gallons of lampricides into Cattaraugus Creek in Erie and Cattaraugus Counties in an efford to kill any sea lamprey larvae that have nested in the bottom of these waterways. The lampricides application is set to start on April 22, 2025 and will run through May 1, 2025.

Sea lamprey larvae live in hundreds of Great Lakes tributaries and transform to parasites that migrate to the Great Lakes and kill fish by feeding on their blood and body fluids. Failure to kill sea lamprey larvae in streams will result in significant damage to the Great Lakes fishery. Infested tributaries must be treated on a regular basis with lampricides to control sea lamprey populations.
-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Government officials guarantee the lampricides used are safe for humans and other species and will only impact the sea lamprey.