Environmentalists: Lake Erie won’t recover without new rules
TOLEDO — Political leaders and environmentalists who have spent years pushing Ohio to adopt a pollution diet to combat toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie say the state’s plan to do just that will fall short if there are no new regulations on farmers.
They contend that the only way the lake will meet federally mandated water quality standards is to add enforceable rules limiting two main sources of the phosphorus that feeds the algae — chemical fertilizers used on fields, and livestock manure.
Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it will establish what’s known as a “total maximum daily load” that imposes specific limits on how much phosphorus is allowed to flow into the lake’s western end.
While developing the plan will take two or three years, Ohio does not intend to add new regulations on farmers, nor does it have the author- ity to do so under the “total maximum daily load” designation, according to the state EPA.
What it plans to do is conduct a detailed review of pol- lution sources, set limits on targeted, local watersheds and come up with a strat- egy that will a follow a path outlined in Gov. Mike DeWine’s “H2Ohio” water quality initiative, which will begin offering farmers financial incentives this year to voluntarily adopt new agricul- ture practices.
Ohio’s agriculture lead- ers believe enough farm- ers will take steps to reduce their nutrient runoff so that tougher regulations won’t be needed to meet the state’s goal of drastically reducing pollutants within five years.
Environmental organizations, including those behind a lawsuit seeking to force mandatory pollution rules for the lake, have cautiously applauded the state’s deci- sion to set pollution limits.
“The devil will be in the details,” said Howard Learner, president of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Voluntary measures and incentives are not sufficient enough to solve the problems What is needed, in addition to those, are enforceable regulatory standards.”
That’s why his group’s lawsuit seeking increased pollution controls will continue, he said.
Creating new pollution limits through a “total maximum daily load” plan isn’t a cure-all and is just one tool the state is implementing to reduce the harmful nutrients going into the lake, said Heidi Griesmer, an EPA spokeswoman.
The agency described the plan as a road map to improve water quality.
County commissioners in the Toledo area, which went without tap water for two days in 2014 after algal toxins contaminated the city’s supply, said this week that tougher regulations are needed for the plan to work.
“We believe strongly this has to have real teeth or we’re not going to make progress,” said Tina Skeldon Wozniak, a Lucas County commissioner. “Or we’re going to lose the lake.”
Farm organizations, which have fought attempts to regulate runoff, said they don’t think a “total maximum daily load” standard is needed.