Its been a smelly past 13 days at Tempe Town Lake, but the swimming portion of Sundays Life Time Tri Tempe triathlon is a go. Answers to why putrid sludge, garbage and green algae backed up at #Tempe Town Lake became clearer: azc.cc/1uoDYUY Ive been asked many of the same questions each day that I went to Tempe Town Lake to check out the mess and to talk with Valley residents. Residents were disgusted as dead fish started appearing atop the stank muck, trash that had backed up at the western dam. Ive tried to answer residents overriding question: Why didnt Tempe just lower all of four rubber bladders that make up the lakes western dam, so the smelly sludge could flow out of the water and into the dry Salt River bed? The answer, in part, is tied to the lakes $40.8 million steel-dam project. Today, hundreds of triathletes in the Life Time Tri Tempe race are jumping in Town Lake for a competition theyve trained months for. About 1,400 athletes are registered, including some 65 vying for standing in the USA Paratriathlon Nationals race. Many of these athletes traveled from out of state to compete. Ive read comments on the Facebook page for todays triathlon. I feel awful for athletes who had to make a tough decision after putting their heart into intense triathlon training. Some athletes voiced fears of risking their health. They are angry and disappointed. They said they do not trust test results that had improved so drastically. Thursdays tests showed water samples had E. coli bacteria at more than 10 times the safe standard for swimming. A Tempe-paid contractor took new tests Friday. Those mid-lake water samples showed that E. coli went from 2,420 to 5. The state standard for full-body contact activities such as swimming is 235. Testing was not done by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, which is charged with water quality at state lakes. Many athletes were relieved by the results that allowed them to compete in the swim portion of the race. They said they know the risks involved in a sport that includes swimming in lakes that are often filthy. Kathryn Boepple posted: Tempe town lake is always disgusting. When folks sign up to do a tri there they must know the conditions. Either take your chances, spit and dont swallow or run a marathon. Triathletes who feared for their health spoke of past times theyve been sickened by E.. coli and posted pictures of muck that was still settling at spots across the lake. Kristen Stephen posted: Knowing what yesterdays results were, I will not participate in the swim for my own safety. Its unfortunate for me that I will not be participating in this event I paid for and planned nearly a year ago because of that. I am not comfortable in that water that just yesterday had e coli levels far above whats acceptable. If it were a Du option I would have participated. Good luck to everyone out there.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:09:47 +0000
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