Possible Cyanobacterial Blooms in Huck Finn Pond

The City of Laramie was informed on August 12 of a possible fatal dog poisoning associated with possible cyanobacterial blooms in Huck Finn Pond, which is located in LaPrele Park.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's Wyoming Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom Program (DEQ-HBC) had requested a sample of the pond to determine whether harmful levels of cyanobacteria and/or cyanotoxins may be present in the waterbody. The results should be known soon.

Signs have been posted in the area to alert visitors of the potential health risks to both people and animals. The City of Laramie Animal Control staff has been notified of the situation.

Cyanobacterial blooms float on or just below the water surface or leave a blue-green paste on the shoreline and can turn the water green or look like threads, clumps, scums, and spilled paint.

The following reminders are in place regarding cyanobacterial blooms:

• Do not swim in or come into contact with green water, floating scums or clumps.
• Do not ingest water from a bloom. Boiling, filters, and other treatments will not make the water safe.
• Rinse fish with clean water and eat only the fillet portion.
• Avoid water spray from a bloom.
• Do not allow pets or livestock to drink water near a bloom, eat bloom material, or lick fur after contact.

Huck Finn Pond has been listed as "Under Investigation" on Wyoming’s HCB web map

For additional information on the HCB program, you can visit: https://www.wyohcbs.org/