Lake Care Issues / Lessons Learned

Event: In spring 2010 lake owners began finding small pieces of blue styrofoam imbedded into the grasses all around the lake. The wind was blowing many of them down to one or two coves, and there were piles of the styrofoam in certain coves. A neighbor observed that chunks were missing from one camp’s swim raft; it appeared to have been chewed by a muskrat, and possibly hollowed out for a winter home. The owner of the raft denied having anything to do with the problem. The state DEC was called in to investigate, and the result was that the landowner was asked to clean the entire perimeter of the lake, and to remove the float from the water.

Lesson Learned: Don’t use blue styrofoam for swim rafts. It is sold for the express intent of TEMPORARILY holding up a dock while you secure it with piers. IT should be removed once the dock piers are intact.