COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Visitors to Allatoona Lake are being warned to be extra careful about getting a mouthful of lake water.
Some of the coves and inlets around Red Top Mountain are under a toxic algae invasion.
Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen went to the lake on Tuesday and spoke with people who say they’ve never seen anything like it.
In his four years working at Red Top Mountain Park Marina on Allatoona Lake, Evan Archer said this is the first time he had ever seen it.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“I didn’t know what it was. I first saw a picture on Facebook. I saw the color of the water. I was like, ‘That’s definitely not right,’” Archer said.
The algae blooms appears as a bluish-green film in the coves and inlets on either side of the mountain in Bartow County.
“It looks like spilled paint on the surface of the lake. It has a foul odor. Stay away from those areas,” said Cole Blackwell, General Manager of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority.
It has issued an alert about what’s known as a blue-green algae bloom.
“Don’t drink it, number one. Spit it out. And if you have pets, keep them away,” Blackwell said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- ‘A jealous rage:’ Dentist shot boyfriend through bedroom door, kills him at Lake Lanier home
- Carnival cruise guest, 88, dies after driving mobility scooter off pier in Bahamas
- ‘One of a kind:’ Beloved Georgia music teacher dies
It’s toxic, can actually kill a dog, and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches in people.
The drought likely caused it, and the area will need a lot of rain to wash it away.
Officials say the Cobb Water Authority’s treatment plant is upstream of the outbreak, so the public drinking water supply, which is treated, remains safe.
But one spot in the marina and others like it along the shoreline are not.
Archer says around here, longtime marina members know to stay clear.
“They’re going to see that color and know something is wrong with that. But our renters won’t know as well. They won’t recognize it,” he said.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]