Toxin dumped into Bridgeport lake

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) -- A Bridgeport resident contacted News 8 for help after someone illegally dumped chemicals into the lake he lives on.

Rick Lewis has been trying to push away the film on top of the water outside his Bridgeport home since last week when DEEP officials say someone illegally dumped chemicals into Lake Forest.

"This stuff you see, this cloudy stuff, this was the blue stuff. It has since attached to the pollen which normally falls on top of the water this time of year," he explained.

Lewis says at its worst a significant amount of film covered the water behind his house. Not only that, but the film has a pungent smell.

DEEP officials tested the water and found "very low trace amounts of soap suds and floor stripper." While the blue color has left, the film remains.

Lewis is worried about his family's health and wants answers that he says he's not getting.

"Since this is coagulating here in my yard, so to speak, I think getting a hold of me and letting me know what it is, I mean is it really toxic, is it something I shouldn't be breathing," he said. "If my cat drinks the water is it going to die? And nothing, no phone call, nothing."

That's why he called News 8 for help.

"I'm president of the Lake Forest Association and I will get the DEEP back here," said Fred Castaldo, Sr. "That is pollen and that is algae."

DEEP says they'll be back on Wednesday. Lewis says he just wants it cleaned up.

"No matter how much I sweep it back, see this pulling back over here, see that line over there, it keeps coming right back," he said. "That's not normal. I mean that's not just pollen."