MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - Mitchell officials have requested a state environmental investigation after a mayoral candidate dumped an unknown product into Lake Mitchell to address a chronic algae problem.
Tara Volesky, one of the city’s candidates for mayor, recently posted a video to her Facebook page showing an area of Lake Mitchell where she put a foreign substance into the water on Saturday.
All four candidates in Tuesday’s election have said that cleaning Lake Mitchell is a priority.
Volesky told The Daily Republic that she and Brian Brown, president of Advance Water Systems, dumped his product into the lake as an alternative treatment method to a harmful blue-green algae issue. She said it’s “all natural” and is already working.
It’s unclear what Brown’s product contains, or whether its toxic. Brown said his treatment would reset the lake’s biological balance. He didn’t offer specifics on his product’s ingredients, only saying that it’s organic.
Current Mayor Jerry Toomey said Volesky had no authorization to dump chemicals into the body of water.
“I’d like to know under what authority she had to allow this guy to dump chemicals, of who knows what, on public property, into the lake?” Toomey said Tuesday. “It was not OK’d by the mayor, the city administrator or the city attorney.”
Volesky admitted that she didn’t seek permission to put the substance in the lake.
Toomey told the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources that he plans to file a formal complaint. He also said he’ll review the city’s ordinances regarding dumping foreign substances into the lake.
“I don’t like the idea that somebody is dumping something into our lake without permission for political gain at the expense of our city,” Toomey said.
Patrick Snyder, an environmental scientist with the state agency, confirmed that the department is looking into the complaint.
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Information from: The Daily Republic, http://www.mitchellrepublic.com
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