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BLUFFDALE — An area has been cordoned off while health department officials investigate a mysterious green foam that came out of a Bluffdale roadway drain Thursday, according to Bluffdale officials.
According to Bluffdale city engineer Michael Fazio, officials were alerted of the unknown foam-like substance coming out of a drain near 3200 W. 14800 South.
Unsure what the foam was, the city of Bluffdale called the Salt Lake County Health Department to investigate and an irrigation line was shut off, according to Fazio.
Bluffdale Fire officials told KSL that they suspect the foam-like substance is algae-related, but health officials are still testing the water to confirm. Nicholas Rupp from the Salt Lake County Health Department said the foam most likely came from a moss treatment that was recently added to the canal.
#Bluffdale green foam in Welby Canal likely related to annual canal moss cleaning process; unlikely to be related to #algae. #SLCo
— Salt Lake Health (@saltlakehealth) July 22, 2016
The drain was connected to the nearby Welby Jacobs Canal and the foam began appearing after residents in the area requested water from the canal to be used to water their grass and crops, officials said.
The foam found on a street receded into the irrigation box after the line was shut off, Fazio said.
The canal itself appears bright green.
Both Rupp and Utah Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Donna Spangler suggested Thursday the foam is not connected at all to the algal bloom discovered at Utah Lake last week. Health officials closed the lake to all activities indefinitely on Friday due to toxins associated with algal blooms contaminating the water.
More information will be added when it becomes available.
Contributing: Marc Giauque, Andrew Adams
