Ask questions about the blue-green algae

Quinte Conservation will be hosting a free information night all about Blue-Green Algae on October 7 from 6:30 – 8:30.  Dr. Sue Watson from Environment Canada and Quinte Conservation’s Algae Watch Project Leader Nicole Irvine will be on hand to answer questions about Blue-Green Algae on the Bay of Quinte.

“With recent algae blooms on the Bay of Quinte many people have questions about Blue-Green Algae,” Irvine says. “The public wants to know what it is, whether its harmful and what is being done about it.  That’s what this information night is all about.”

Quinte Conservation has been monitoring levels of blue-green algae in the Bay of Quinte this summer and fall thanks to funding from the Ministry of the Environment’s Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship Program.  These algae (cyanobacteria) populations can grow into large masses or “blooms” in warm, shallow, slow moving, nutrients-rich waters.  Irvine explains, “The data we collect will help us to understand the risk these toxins pose to our municipal drinking water systems and recreational areas.”

The information night will take place at the Quinte Conservation office in Belleville, at the corner of Wallbridge-Loyalist Road and Old Highway 2.

Quinte Conservation is a community based environmental protection agency that serves 18 municipalities in the watersheds of the Moira, Napanee and Salmon Rivers and Prince Edward County.  It provides cost effective environmental expertise and leadership that develops and delivers programs to ensure the healthy coexistence between the community, the environment and its economy.  More information is available at www.quinteconservation.ca.