ADDISON COUNTY — Data released earlier this year showed that in 2011 the Otter Creek poured more than 206 metric tons of phosphorus into Lake Champlain — almost twice the 18-year average of 121 annual metric tons.
An increase in phosphorus, which fuels growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, is not viewed by staff at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) as a positive harbinger in their effort to clean up Lake Champlain.