Lake Erie has seen great progress since it was declared "dead" decades ago, but it still faces threats from old pollutants, invasive species and climate change.

That was the message that Pete Grannis, commissioner of the state Department of

Environmental Conservation, brought Wednesday to Erie Basin Marina on the eve of the 40th

anniversary of Earth Day.

"Forty years ago, the place was a mess," Grannis said. "The rivers were polluted. The

harbors were polluted. The lakes were polluted."

Industrial contamination up and down the waterfront fouled the water and undermined fish

and wildlife, Grannis said.

Thomas Marks, a charter boat operator, remembers the lake of his youth vividly. "You had to

wade through about 50 yards of rotting algae before you actually got to the water," he said.

"Nice and green on the top, it looked pretty, but it was very black and stinky underneath.

That was the Lake Erie I grew up knowing."

Marks, a Derby resident who retired at 57 to focus on professional fishing, said

environmental efforts have made "huge strides" in the lake.

Today, Grannis said, the area's waterways are "making a comeback, step by step."

"Nobody thought that there would be a chance to bring these great bodies of water back," he

said, speaking to reporters here as part of a statewide tour this week.

Signs of progress, he said, are "impressive" and include:

Reductions in levels of toxic chemicals in the Niagara River.

Decreases in algae bloom, which is caused by phosphorus.

Increases in populations of eagles, falcons and lake sturgeon.

A growing colony of nesting common terns.

"Areas along the Buffalo River that once hosted lagoons filled with sludge and industrial

debris are now green spaces for fox, deer and birds of all kinds," Grannis said.

However, Grannis warned, Lake Erie still faces significant threats, including the potential

for invasive species such as Asian carp to enter the water.

Even higher on the list of threats, Grannis and other DEC representatives said Wednesday,

is the potential for climate change to affect wildlife water habitats.

Among other concerns are legacy pollutants, toxins from household products and algae blooms

on the western end of the lake where fish spawn.

The Asian carp, which already has made its way from the Mississippi River to the Illinois

River, with the threat of entering the Great Lakes, is high on Marks' list of concerns.

"They could, because they're feeding on the bottom of the food chain, just crowd out every

other species of fish," said Marks, New York director for the Great Lakes Sport Fishing

Council. "And they've done that in every other area that they've taken over."

Grannis said the DEC is actively involved with a "broad coalition of Great Lakes

environmental committees and commissioners and other governors" to try to limit Asian carp

from getting through the Chicago drainage canal to Lake Michigan.

He described Asian carp as the "invasive species du jour" in a long line of species that

threaten the Great Lakes.

"We're taking steps on a lot of different fronts to try to battle invasive species that are

showing up in alarming numbers in the water and on the land from other parts of the country

and the world," Grannis said.