PORT ANGELES — When it comes to scum, Clallam County’s been plumb lucky.

Its lakes so far haven’t shown evidence of toxic cyanobacteria — the fancy name for deadly blue-green algae — Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, told the Clallam County Board of Health on Tuesday.

Clallam’s lochs and meres — unlike Jefferson County to the east — so far have not borne the tattletale of the lethal little organisms: Pond scum.

“This has come up again and again,” Locke said.

“What are we doing in Clallam County about monitoring for toxic algae?”

The answer seems unscientifically simple:

“We found that looking for scum layers is really the best initial test that you have a blue-green algae problem.

“That seems to be the real threshold.”