FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City Manager’s Office August 13, 2020
Janine Jordan, City Manager
307-721-5226
Staff Contacts:
City of Laramie, Assistant City Manager
Todd Feezer
307-721-5304
tfeezer@cityoflaramie.org
LaPrele Park, Huck Finn Pond:

Notification of Potential Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms in Laramie, WY:

On August 12, 2020, the City of Laramie received notification from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Wyoming Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom Program (DEQ-HBC) of a possible fatal dog poisoning associated with Huck Finn Pond, located in LaPrele Park. A DEQ sampling of the pond was requested to determine whether harmful levels of cyanobacteria and/or cyanotoxins may be present in the water body, which should occur within the next day or so. Signs have been posted in the area to alert visitors to the park and pond area of the potential health risks to both people and animals. The City of Laramie Animal Control staff, as well as their veterinary partners, have 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.

REMINDERS:
➢ 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 webmap: https://wdeq.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Shortlist/index.html…
For additional information on the HCB program, you can visit: https://www.wyohcbs.org/

IMPORTANT: If you or your pet gets sick after water contact or ingestion, call your doctor or veterinarian.