Residents of Thorne told not to swim in Ottawa River following formation of blue-green algae

Blue-green algae has been found in the Ottawa River near Thorne, but there’s no ban on drinking the water.

Normally the North Bay-Parry Sound District Health Unit would tell residents not to drink the water.

But in this case the community gets its drinking water from another river.

However the health unit is telling people not to swim in the water or eat fish from the Ottawa River.

That’s because the fish bodies may contain toxins from the algae, and eating them means people will also ingest the toxins.

The health unit also says the algae could sink to the bottom of the river so it might not be visible.

At this point the agency says it doesn’t know when it will be safe to use the river.