Environmental groups in Michigan and Ohio filed suit against the EPA, seeking a court order for the agency to decide whether water quality in western Lake Erie is impaired. The designation would lead to pollution regulations aimed at preventing algae blooms, which can be toxic, said the Associated Press.
“Blooms in the western end of the lake blanket its waters and turn the lake into unsightly shades of green in most summers,” said the AP, which also cited a 2014 bloom that contaminated tap water in the Toledo area. Michigan has said eastern Lake Erie should be listed as impaired. Ohio has proposed putting some shoreline sections of the western part of Lake Erie on the impaired list. The EPA, however, did not act on these recommendations within 30 days as required by the Clean Water Act. “The agency in December said it was reviewing both proposed impaired-waters lists,” the AP said.
The National Wildlife Federation said farm runoff is the top contributor to algae in the lake “and one way to address that is through a federally approved plan to reduce runoff pollution into local rivers, streams and Lake Erie.” The AP said toxic algae blooms have become more prevalent in recent years and that steps have been taken to reduce fertilizer runoff and municipal sewage overflows, but some environmental groups say progress is too slow.