Deadline Set for Logan Cleanup / Biofuel May Be Answer to Sewage Lagoon Algae Woes
(Standard-Examiner) Utah environmental regulators have set a seven-year deadline for Logan officials to cut the amount of phosphorus in sewage lagoons west of the city.
Water from the lagoons discharges into Cutler Reservoir.
Phosphorous fuels algae blooms that produce oxygen during the day, but use oxygen at night and essentially suffocate fish and other animals, said Utah Department of Environmental Quality Assistant Director John Whitehead.
…To fix its phosphorous problem, Logan is working with Utah State University researchers to develop a $40 million experimental project that would convert the algae into biofuels to power vehicles.
Algae would be allowed to grow in the lagoons and consume phosphorous before being harvested and run through “digesters” that would yield biofuel, said Issa Hamud, Logan’s environmental department director. READ MORE