Another toxic algae outbreak feared for Lake Erie

CURTICE, Ohio — Scientists predict one of the most severe outbreaks yet this summer of toxic algae blooms on western Lake Erie — the type that last August disrupted the water supply of 400,000 people in Toledo and southeastern Michigan.

And while the region’s drinking water is safe so far, acres of spreading green muck float around Toledo’s water intake pipe on Lake Erie yet again.

A coalition of conservation groups and Ohio business, farming and government officials took to boats Wednesday, giving reporters and themselves a first-hand look at another summer of algae blooms already spreading on Lake Erie.

“It’s a signal that our Great Lakes region is sliding backwards,” said Joel Brammeier, president of the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes.

“If we lose clean drinking water, our region loses everything.”

Toledo, however, has not experienced problems so far this summer with microcystis algae, which produces a toxin called microcystin that reached alarming levels and prompted a “do not drink or boil” water advisory over the first weekend of August last year.

The algae is fed by nutrients reaching Lake Erie, with a primary source being the Maumee River and its watershed, which stretches through farm and industrial country from Indiana to Toledo. Agricultural runoff is considered a key source of phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrients helping the algae to thrive when combined with warm temperatures and ample sunlight on the relatively shallow western portion of the Great Lake.

“We have a very serious problem in that we are at the end of this river, and we are the ones being required as a city to do much of the work to clean it up,” Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced earlier this month that models show this summer could be one of the most severe for harmful algal blooms on western Lake Erie, the second-most severe behind a record-setting bloom in 2011. It is expected to range between 8.1 to 9.5 on the administration’s “severity index,” compared with a 6.5 index rating for last summer’s disruptive bloom. The major bloom prediction was prompted by heavy June rains, which caused significant nutrient runoff into the lake basin.

Since last year, Toledo has implemented improved communications plans to report changing water conditions, as well as more and longer treatment of the lake water coming into its facilities, Hicks-Hudson said.

An agreement by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to reduce algae-causing pollutants by 40% by 2025 drew praise from environmentalists and policymakers Wednesday, as did laws passed in Ohio tightening agricultural fertilizer-spreading and other operations. But many called for more specifics on implementation to reach the goals talked about since last August.

“Much more needs to be done,” said Ohio Democratic state Rep. Teresa Fedor.

Paul Pacholski, executive director of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, said he’s seen conditions on the lake slowly deteriorate since 2003.

“If it wasn’t for the drinking water crisis, we’d still be ignoring the problem,” he said. “Now, it’s not just drinking water; it’s the quality of life all around us.”

Bill Myers, a farmer in Ohio’s Lucas County and president of the county’s farm bureau, said his profession has acted responsibly, both before and since last summer’s algae-caused water crisis.

“Agriculture, as an industry, has stepped up larger than any other contributor in this watershed,” he said.

Further progress needs to include more accurate information on sources of the algae-causing pollution, Myers said.

“I am tired of hearing hypotheticals on where things are coming from,” he said. “We need to know for sure what areas are contributing, and target the highest levels with the quickest response, to get the hugest decrease as fast as we can.”