Alexandria Living Magazine
Lake Cook, an urban fishing location, on Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria. Great Waves Waterpark is in the background.
Alexandria’s Lake Cook, a pond popular for fishing, was contaminated by 60,000 gallons of chlorinated water that was released into the pond by a Great Waves Waterpark employee.
Residents on Facebook reported dead fish and other wildlife, including ducks and herons, on the banks of the river this week and asked Alexandria officials to investigate.
“There was an accidental release of pool water into Lake Cook, a small pond next to Cameron Run Waterpark. This was user error, as the shallow children’s pool is designed to never need be released like this. The valve that allowed for that discharge has been made inoperable so that cannot happen again,” said Paul Gilbert, executive director of NOVA Parks, which operates Cameron Run Regional Park and Great Waves Waterpark, adjacent to Lake Cook.
The Alexandria Fire Department issued two “notices of violation” to NOVA Parks, according to Mayor Justin Wilson. There is no information yet on whether NOVA Parks or the employee responsible will face further sanctions or charges.
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources will restock the lake with fish once officials are sure the contamination has been removed.
Lake Cook underwent a major rehabilitation to help reduce pollution a few years ago and reopened two years ago this week. Lake Cook is a designated Urban Fishing Location and is stocked with trout and channel catfish by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. The four-acre lake is part of Cameron Regional Park and is administered by the NOVA Parks.
Strawberry Run flows into the lake, and the lake then flows into Cameron Run, but it is not clear how much environmental impact the chlorinated water will have as it flows downstream.
