Ensuring Ohio's Water Quality

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 3, 2015
CONTACTS: Dan Alfaro | (Latta) 202- 225-6405

Caitlin Conant | (Portman) 202-224-5190

Darin Miller | (Jordan) 202-225-2676

 

Portman, Latta, and Jordan Urge Federal Agencies to Provide Support to Ensure Ohio Water Quality

On Anniversary of Toledo Water Crisis Last Year, Letter is in Response to Elevated Public Health Advisory Issued by Ohio Public Health Officials

 

Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), U.S. Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH-05), and U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) urged several federal agencies to provide assistance to Ohio Governor John Kasich and respective Ohio agencies as they work to improve the water quality and safety at Grand Lake St. Marys.

 

In a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lawmakers called for support of Ohio’s efforts to monitor the water quality of areas susceptible to high microcystin levels. This letter is in response to the elevated public health advisory issued by Ohio public health officials for Grand Lake St. Marys in Celina, Ohio.

 

“The presence of harmful cyanotoxins continues to be a problem for Ohio, as record heavy rainfall this spring and summer has put freshwater bodies such as Lake Erie and Grand Lake St. Marys at increased risk,” the lawmakers wrote. “The water crisis which disrupted the water supply of roughly 500,000 people in Toledo last August highlights the need to protect our freshwater bodies from high microcystin levels, which has dramatic impacts on public health, tourism, and the local economy.

 

“We continue to be supportive of the efforts of Ohio agencies to monitor the water quality of areas susceptible to high microcystin levels, and we ask your assistance in addressing the elevated public health advisory recently posted at Grand Lake St. Marys.”

 

Full text of the letter can be found here.