FRANKLIN, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) — A major environmental restoration project is underway in Franklin County as Vermont officials take new steps to revive one of the state’s most troubled lakes.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation began applying an aluminum-based compound, known as alum, to Lake Carmi in late September. The treatment aims to control phosphorus pollution, one of the main contributors to cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, blooms that have plagued the lake for years.

Cyanobacteria are naturally present in most lakes, but when excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus build up often from agricultural runoff, the blooms can turn toxic.

At Lake Carmi, the outbreaks have at times left the water thick and green, resembling pea soup.

“This major region that we’r

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