A perfect storm of factors has made dock deicing bubblers a big problem in Brantingham

Jul. 30—LOWVILLE — Bubblers — also called deicers, aerators or ice eaters — have been harnessed for years to keep winter ice from building up around docks in lakes and rivers that can cause damage, but their use may be on thin ice in one community because of the thin ice hazard they create.

The 327-acre Brantingham Lake in the town of Greig has 11 miles of waterfront with a wide-range of privately owned camps — from small seasonal cabins to more sprawling, insulated homes — each with its own dock or boathouse with equally varied construction. Public access to the lake is available only at one boat launch on the edge of the lake nearest to the hamlet of Brantingham.

In the winter, the lake, like many bodies of water in the north country, forms a thick layer of ice providing a winter sport playground for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice skating, hockey, snowmobiling and ice fishing.

Some people remove their docks from the water in the winter to avoid the damage ice can wreak when it surrounds a dock's base and expands including causing cracks and movement off the supports or foundation. Increasingly, however, camp owners are finding ways to keep the ice away completely.

The term "bubblers" is often used generically to cover all deicing tools, but they are one of two varieties of deicers.

Dock bubblers are usually long hoses with tiny holes through which air is pushed by an attached compressor. The hose is submerged in water under a dock and creates air bubbles that move the lower, slightly warmer water, up to create a space of unfrozen water above the hose in a loop around the dock.

Because they oxygenate the water, they are also used to prevent algae buildup in some areas and in various sizes and forms in everything from fish tanks to ponds to watering holes.

Agitators — which are the deicers and ice eaters — moves warmer water near the bottom to the surface with propellers. They create a wider area of ice-free water that is impacted by the power of the motor. The smallest agitators run with a 1/2-horse power motor which will create a 40- or 50-foot radius impact. Deicers can go up to 3-horsepower motors with radii of hundreds of feet depending on the system.

The biggest danger comes from the fact that skins of ice can remain on the surface so it is not always obvious where the devices are and where the thin ice ends around an area of obviously not-frozen water. Even bubblers do not always have visible bubbles at the surface, although some models do shoot bubbles above the surface like a fountain.

"It's just like one guy is feeding ducks and the one next door is shooting them," said town of Greig Supervisor Marilyn E. Patterson about the conflict between bubbler users and lake users.

Although many "locals" are aware of where bubblers are used, camps are increasingly rented in the winter to visitors who are unaware of the potential hazard and any camp can add a deicer without letting anyone know. The bubblers are often used by seasonal residents who are unable to see the impact of their devices unless they also have cameras they can monitor remotely.

Residents living next to neighbors with bubblers — one surrounded by three neighbors with the devices — have reported having to run outside to yell a warning to people walking unknowingly near thin ice areas or being unable to get onto the ice from their homes anymore.

As the number of bubblers in the area increases, so do the safety concerns surrounding the thin ice conditions and the complaints coming into the council.

As a result, council members Robert A. Johnson and Nichelle L. Swisher have been researching deicers, laws surrounding their use, their ecological impact and their effectiveness at protecting docks for the past year.

"We certainly want to tackle both sides of this but at the same time, make sure that one landowner is not infringing on the other landowner's rights," said Swisher.

After finding that there are no state laws or state Department of Environmental Conservation rules on the use of deicing devices, the council crafted a local law to address the issue that would require that "bubblers or ice eaters" do not "project across the extension of the side (property) lines" into the waterway to prevent infringement on neighbors; create a permit for the devices that would cost $30; and make mandatory, that a town-supplied "Caution: thin ice" sign be posted on docks facing the water.

Johnson clarified that the lettering on the sign will be 4 inches to ensure they can be read from a distance of 50 feet beyond the docks although the detail is not included in the law.

Following feedback at the public hearing attended by about 10 people, according to Patterson, the law was tabled to give time for more research and discussion among and with residents.

"We hate to create any more laws than we already have but we thought if the zoning board could measure distances and bubbler types and provide signs when people apply for use permits, it would help," said. Patterson. "We're not trying to control everybody's lives and what they do. That's the last thing we want ... but at the same time we have to be considerate of our neighbors, too."

The only mention of the devices on the DEC's website is their web page on ice fishing.

"Be cautious in areas where 'bubblers' are used to protect docks. They can produce thin, unsafe ice some distance away," it warns.

Canada and some states including New Hampshire and Wisconsin, according to Swisher and Johnson's research, have implemented bubbler use laws but other laws are in play relating to the risks they create if owners do not take precautions.

In Canada, for example, in addition to permits being required in some areas the criminal law requires that anyone "who makes or causes... an opening in ice that is open to... the public (must) guard it in a manner that is adequate to prevent persons from falling in by accident and is adequate to warn them that the opening exists."

If that is not done properly and someone falls in and dies, the property owner with the bubbler could be charged with manslaughter and other criminal charges if they are injured. Both could result in jail time if successfully prosecuted.

It is not clear what protection homeowner insurance would provide if someone an injury or death due to a bubbler happened on an insured dock or if there are impacts on insurance costs for increased liability if running a bubbler on a body of water that has significant winter activity.

"It hasn't come up but maybe we should be talking about it," said Kristy L. Williams of Fuller Insurance in Carthage.

Likewise, the topic has not come up for other waterfront communities like Henderson and Chaumont on Lake Ontario, the town of Alexandria including Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River, the town of Clifton — with Star Lake and Cranberry Lake — and Lake Bonaparte in the Town of Diana.

Leadership of most of those municipalities said they knew only of a few users of bubblers, often those with boathouses, however the majority of dock owners have temporary docks they pull from the water or properties with larger sections of waterfront which would prevent neighbors from impacting each other with anti-icing gadgets.

Some are aware of businesses including marinas and boat tour companies using ice prevention devises that also post warning signs about the danger.

The various municipal leaders speculated that because the devices cannot protect against damage cause by ice sheets that get pushed into docks during the spring melt, people in their respective areas prefer to simply remove their docks — the only way to completely ensure there is no damage.

On Lake Bonaparte, Samuel S. Verbeck Jr, president of the Lake Bonaparte Conservation Club, said he has seen the ice's ability to move large heavy objects just with the expansion that comes with the lake freezing by the movement of large rocks in front of his camp that have moved up the front of his property over the years.

"The (the bubblers) definitely help with that kind of movement of docks, keeping that ice from building up and causing problems," he said.

Bubblers need at least a foot of water to work and can stop working if kept on a timer, as many are to save electricity, if temperatures drop during its off time and the device itself freezes. Johnson said thermostats which trigger bubbler action based on temperature instead of time appear to be more effective.

Deicers, especially the propeller agitators, can also have a negative environmental impact according to research by Swisher and Lauren K. Eggleston, assistant director of Save the River, with the caveat that she was only able to find limited research on the topic.

"The sediment can be stirred up and that can change some dynamics in lakes — in smaller lakes, in particular, and streams. That open water can change the feeding habitats of wildlife ... the fish can be affected and anything feeding in that open water might be affected."

Brantingham Lake appears to be at the confluence of a number of factors that other communities don't have all at once that have created the blow back from the bubblers: camps that are closer together with smaller waterfrontage; a large number of people that participate in winter sports on the lake; more people that leave docks in the water all winter; a significant number of short-term renters that are not aware of bubbler locations; and four-season residents that have witnessed the risk enough to be concerned.

Johnson said that while he is not certain a whole new regulation on bubblers will be ready for this winter he hopes they can at least decide to "take a half step" and make a law requiring signage. Swisher said she believes they also have to find a better way to delineate how far bubblers can deice because not all property lines are well marked and it could lead to new levels of frustration between property owners.

She added that however a new law is written, it will crafted with more input from those impacted and require another public hearing.

"We certainly want to tackle both sides of it but at the same time, make sure that one landowner is not infringing on the other landowner's rights," she said.

On social media, a number of people have weighed in, including some of those that run bubblers and those staying in the area that did not realize such a problem existed and one person said they figured out a solution directly with the neighbor who ran the deicer.

As Supervisor Patterson said, "At least we can get people talking about it," ideally before frustration bubbles over on this topic like so many others.