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There are plenty of ways to pass a lazy afternoon at FDR Park, but fishing has been ruled out by some.
Whether coming to bait and tackle, or just to relax, residents are disturbed by the appearance of the park’s lakes, which are partly covered in algae. Fisherman Bill McGherin, of the 2700 block of Darien Street, fears for the spot he’s been casting a line at since the 1940s.
"There used to be a crew of us down there, 15 to 20 guys a day," the 71-year-old said. "Now there’s only four or five guys because you can’t fish. You don’t see adults my age going down there with grandchildren because the kids can’t fish down there."
McGherin has taught two generations how to fish at The Lakes — the same spot where he learned from his dad. "Every time I go down there, I think of my father," he said. "I don’t know what I’d do without The Lakes."
Those just enjoying the scenery are concerned, too.
"I’m just looking at it, and I’m just wondering to myself why nothing has been done," Albert, a resident who declined to give his last name, said. "I don’t know if [algae is] a factor [in the lake’s health] or not. Maybe it’s not a factor. Maybe that’s the reason why they’re not concerned about it."
Along with wife Pat, the couple visits the park every day to unwind or go for a walk.
"Let’s just put it this way, they could make improvements and that water should be much cleaner than it is," she said.
Although The Lakes are open to fishermen, many would be hard-pressed to cast a line into the algae that covers more than half of Edgewood Lake, the largest body of water in the park. According to a Review article in August 2006, locals made note of the problem, attributing it mostly to a broken sluice gate in The Navy Yard that controls water flow. Without a flow of water in and out of the lakes, the water becomes stagnant and in prime condition for algae growth.
Christopher Palmer, director of operations and landscape management for the Fairmount Park Commission, said water for The Lakes comes from the yacht basin in The Navy Yard through the gate he says is functioning.
"The city invested money in its repair several years ago," Palmer said. "I’m not aware that it’s broken. I’m aware that it’s functioning correctly."
Officials say the algae growth is a natural, yearly occurrence that is not as harmful as it is unsightly.
"Algae blooms by themselves are not necessarily a dangerous thing," Dan Tredinnick, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which is in charge of fishery in the park, said. "They’re not aesthetically pleasing, but they serve a role in the environment just like everything else."
But the problems don’t stop with the green-covered water. Airborne pests, namely strains of mosquitoes that could carry the West Nile virus, are on the rise at The Lakes.
After a park-set trap caught a high number of adult mosquitoes about a month ago, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Vector Control took action. The group administered a spray treatment by truck throughout the park at dusk Aug. 15 to eliminate the insects, who accumulate there because it’s an ideal breeding environment, Bill Ferraro, chief of Vector Control services for the Philadelphia Department of Health, said.
"A lot of the conditions are going to occur with mosquitoes where birds are going to be. Then [the mosquitoes] need water to breed. [FDR Park] is one of the areas that’s been a problem, but it’s not necessarily because of the lakes. They don’t breed in the middle of the lakes, but around the edges where it’s wetland-like," he said of the shaded shores where mosquitoes find protection and the females lay eggs.
Ferraro also cited wet spots under I-95 in the park where water can generate a high number of mosquitoes, a population that, as a whole, has risen in Philadelphia since last year, he said, mainly due to the wet spring and dry, hot summer.
Although there have been no confirmed human cases of West Nile in Pennsylvania this year and none of the traps in the park found a positive mosquito, Ferraro said extra precautions by using an ultra low volume (ULV) treatment at night is the best course to prevent potential problems. The treatment uses tiny particles of pesticide that give off a cloud-like appearance, which hovers in the air for a few hours and hits the mosquitoes in flight, Ferraro said. "[The mosquitoes] aren’t very tough," he said. "A little pesticide goes a long way. We use less than an ounce to an acre." Traps are set each year by Vector Control throughout the city, and checked weekly. Last week’s spray was the first ULV treatment of the season for the park, which was sprayed on several occasions last year for the same reason.
"With the numbers being high, the best way to prevent mosquitoes is keeping numbers down as best we can," he said.
The culex species of mosquito is the primary carrier of the disease, Ferraro said, but it is not aggressive, mainly targeting sleeping birds, also a main carrier of West Nile virus.
"Once you start getting high numbers in traps, they start biting more birds, and the more birds bitten, the more the chance of getting a positive mosquito," he said of the multiple birds mosquitoes feed on throughout their lives.
"Mosquitoes are really happy biting birds, but they start looking for other victims when [the number of mosquitoes] goes up," he continued, referencing the competition for birds when there is a high number of mosquitoes, which turns them onto other targets, like humans.
Ferraro said there is most likely no correlation between the algae and the high number of mosquitoes, even though they breed at the edges where algae is dense.
"[Algae] doesn’t affect [mosquitoes] unless it jams up against the corners," he said. "They’re looking for better coverage with branches and leaves to protect them. It’s probably not affecting them even though it’s really ugly to look at."
Tredinnick said issues of water quality don’t fall under the Fish and Boat Commission’s direct jurisdiction, but did add the weather and climate this summer has had a hand in algae growth.
"I would not be surprised if you were to tell me that there were a lot of algae blooms this year because the conditions are just right, so to speak," he said referring to fairly low water levels, high heat level and a lot of sunlight throughout the state, all factors in producing excess blooms.
Barry Bessler, chief of staff for the Fairmount Park Commission, said water quality is not part of their responsibilities.
"We’re responsible for the day-to-day maintenance for trash and mowing the grass," he said of the park.
But according to Tracey Carluccio, deputy director for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, tasks like taking care of the greens and fields in the park has an effect on the water and can contribute to algae growth.
"One of the major causes of algae blooms is over-fertilization that causes nutrients to get washed into the lakes," she said. "The nutrients get bound up in the mud and keep algae in bloom basically forever. The original problem was caused by nutrients entering the lakes, the current problem is them being bound in the lakes. It’s very difficult to correct a problem like that because the nutrient cycle just keeps going back and forth."
She also cited storm-water and concrete run-off as factors and recommended getting rid of the lakes altogether.
"From a purely scientific view, the only way to really deal with the algae effectively is to fill the lakes in," she said. "You can use chemicals or dredge it, but these are all temporary and imperfect remedies."
The Network does not deal directly with The Lakes, but Carluccio said the nonprofit environmental organization is concerned about all lakes’ effects on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.
Bessler said, while he was not familiar with the specific procedures of maintaining the greens, it becomes an issue of balancing priorities.
"If we don’t cut the grass, then we have a different contingency of folks who are upset with us," he said.
Palmer added FDR Golf Course next to the park does use fertilizers to keep the greens in their best condition.
"FDR Park itself, other than the ball fields, doesn’t use any type of fertilizer," he said, "and the waterways on the golf course are not connected with the lakes in the park itself."
As far as any run-off, Palmer said all bodies of water get various types of run-off, but nothing could be specifically tied to the growing greenery.
"Algae is the type of thing that does occur in the summer with low oxygen levels," he said. "Are we managing it down there? Not really. But we’re not using a high amount of fertilizers in FDR Park."
When it comes to issues like mosquitoes, algae or other factors in the park, Bessler said they deal with sister agencies, like the Fish and Boat Commission and Vector Control, who take necessary measurements and address the situations.
"Certainly whatever decisions are made in terms of health, we’re involved in the decision even if we might not be directly responsible for correcting it," Bessler said.
Between the mosquitoes and algae, though not ideal for park-goers, all agree there is nothing to be alarmed about. Ferraro said since the park has been sprayed at the first sign of a high number of the biting bugs, visitors should not take any more precautions than they would at home, especially at dusk when the insects come out.
"I know people like to have a simple solution to everything, but in most cases it’s not quite that simple," Tredinnick said of the blooms. "Sometimes people tend to push the panic button when they see algae, but it’s not necessarily evidence that’s there’s something terribly wrong with the water. It’s a natural phenomenon."
