LANSING – Some Michigan beaches may be covered with rotting green scum instead of white sand and frolicking children this summer, environmentalists warn.

State law doesn’t limit the amount of phosphorus in dishwasher detergents, which has led to widespread algae blooms and fish kills. 

Henry Singer, a longtime Lake Michigan shoreline property owner near Petoskey, has already seen the devastating effects of the state’s policies.

Singer said his lakefront property is covered with decomposing, stinky mats of oily algae blooms because of high phosphate levels in the lake.

“Our grandchildren have been deprived of swimming and playing on the beach – memories we cherished as children,” Singer said.  “We’ve been reluctant to swim, sit on the beach or beachcomb.”

Singer’s situation is not uncommon along Michigan shores. 

Communities along the shores of the Thumb have seen an increase in algae blooms in the past four to five years, said Jennifer McKay, a policy specialist for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, based in Petoskey.

McKay said the predominant algae, cladophora, is green and non-toxic.  She said it stays suspended in the water and travels with the wind.

But the watershed council is also seeing a blue-green algae called microcystis that produces toxins dangerous to animals and small children.

“The toxins can cause liver damage and actually kill wildlife from gastrointestinal distress if too much is ingested,” she said.  “Those who are most likely to ingest the lake water are children and pets.”

McKay said algae mats are also a problem in Wisconsin, in the Saginaw Bay area, Little Traverse Bay and Lake Erie.

“Carpets of green scum pile up on beaches and they smell bad when they decay,” said Hugh McDiarmid, communications director of the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC).

Some lawmakers, industry and environmental groups are trying to curb the buildup of  phosphorus.

Sen. Patricia Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township, and Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, have introduced bills to establish a limit of 0.5 percent phosphates in dishwasher detergents by 2010.  

If the legislation passes, Michigan would be the second state, after Washington, to impose such tight restrictions on phosphorus in dishwasher detergents. 

James Clift of MEC said environmental groups and businesses, including Proctor & Gamble, are pushing passage of the legislation.

“There is no one opposing the bill at this point,” Clift said.  “Proctor & Gamble have eliminated their opposition and are pushing for the bills. I think they want this to be a nationwide standard.”

McDiarmid said phosphorus was widely used in detergents in the 1960s and 1970s when most households didn’t have automatic dishwashers.

But by the mid-1980s when Lake Erie almost choked to death on masses of decaying algae, it became clear change was needed, he said.

The federal Clean Water Act, passed in 1977, set the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollution, including phosphates in laundry and other soaps.

“Since then, phosphate loading in the lakes has gone down dramatically,” McDiarmid said.

Although the situation has improved, the federal law allows continued use of high levels of phosphates in dishwasher detergents. 

McDiarmid said he has seen more reports of algae blooms and matted algae on Lake Michigan in the last five to 10 years.

“There are signs lakes Erie and Michigan that there’s a looming problem with oxygen depletion and algae growth,” he said.