Vermont Was Supposed to Get an Audit of Its Lake Champlain Cleanup. It Never Happened.

Vermont was supposed to receive an independent audit of its Lake Champlain cleanup efforts, but that study never took place. A decade ago, lawmakers mandated the Clean Water Board to submit an audit from an outside environmental consultant to determine whether the state's investments in improving water quality were effective. The audit was also meant to examine whether the state's agriculture and natural resource agencies were enforcing water quality regulations on farms, which are the primary source of phosphorus in Lake Champlain.

Lake Champlain has been contaminated with phosphorus-laden runoff from farms, roads, and urban sewers for decades, leading to potentially toxic blue-green algae blooms and posing health concerns and hurting the state's tourism industry.