By Joshua Skinner, Atlanta News First
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Jeff Kane loves living in the neighborhood surrounding East Lake Golf Club.
“The neighbors are great,” Kane said. “It’s a very diverse community.”
He’s lived in the same home across the street from the course for 12 years and seen the area bloom.
“You know, the golf course and the PGA Tour has had a great impact on the success of this neighborhood,” Kane said.
But lately, the golf club has some people raising their noses after quickly killing off a large swath of grass after the TOUR Championship concluded in late August, part of what’s expected to be a year-long renovation.
“It was after four or five days that I was like, ‘This is not normal,’” he said.
The smell is pungent, with earthy tones of rotting grass and hints of something mysterious, and that’s what concerns Kane.
“We don’t know,” he said. “We have no information.”
Kane says the grass died days after the TOUR Championship concluded on August 27. He worries about the chemicals used and how they could affect those living nearby.
“People exercise here,” Kane said. “This is an active community.”
A text sent to another concerned neighbor from the club says they used “granules” and no liquid chemicals, although what that means was not immediately apparent. Kane says his emails haven’t been met with a straight answer.
“We’ve not been told anything about chemicals, effects.”
Leaving him wondering why the club, a valued community member, is being such a quiet neighbor.
“We just want to know what they’re doing and what the impact is,” Kane said.
In a statement obtained by Decaturish, the East Lake Foundation released the following:
East Lake Golf Club is aware of the unfortunate fish kill that has occurred at the Club. While the Club is not certain of the cause, it is believed that this incident is a direct result of the sustained, extreme heat the City of Atlanta has received over the last several weeks. Despite the Club’s best efforts, a large algae bloom formed in the lake on or about August 17th. Algae blooms, which have occurred several times in the past, are known to eat up oxygen in the water as they decay, which clog the gills of fish. To combat the impact of algae blooms, the Club has made substantial investments in recent years to reduce the impact of algae blooms, including the installation of a state of the art Molaer Nanobubbler System.
Nanobubbles increase oxygen and enhance nature’s natural oxidative processes, which makes lakes more resilient to algae blooms. This oxidative effect can combat algae directly and helps reduce the availability of the nutrients that cause nuisance blooms. Nanobubbler units create healthier lakes and are a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical additives. However, the sustained heat, including 10 consecutive days with high temperatures over 90 degrees, has created the perfect storm for this event to occur. It should be noted that the algae bloom impacted the Club’s main lake and the small pond in front of #1 tee. It did not impact the ponds on holes #18 or #11. There are no dead fish present in the ponds on #18 or #11.
East Lake Golf Club has no reason to attribute the recent fish kill to the recent turf eradication practice to prepare the course for our renovation work. The Club realizes that a photo has been circulating of our team members preparing the golf course for renovation wearing protective clothing. The clothing was a prescribed precaution for those directly involved in this practice. The Club followed all of the recommended precautions plus added an additional safety measure of digging a trench around the perimeter of the property to capture any potential runoff from a significant rain event, which did not occur as we haven’t received rain since August 27th.
Our team members and contractors continue to actively work in these areas in the days ahead. Rest assured, the Club would never put the safety of our team members or the community at large in danger.
Decaturish media partner Atlanta News First provided this story.