Contact Information:
Guardians of the Grand Lake St. Marys
Kate Anderson – goglsm@att.net, 614-558-3105
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (May 23, 2013)
Guardians will fight for Clean-up of Grand Lake St. Marys
St. Marys, Ohio – The upcoming Memorial Day weekend, which signals the beginning of summer and its activities, will be met with some trepidation for those around Grand Lake St. Marys as people in the area wonder what this season has in store for the lake. The Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys (GO-GLSM) announced its formation today to help fight for a clean Grand Lake St. Marys. “With the lake being posted with health warnings since 2009, Governor Kasich’s campaign promise to clean up the lake and stop the pollution has been a hollow one, and the GO-GLSM will work with all dedicated organizations to restore Grand Lake St. Marys to the outstanding tourist destination it once was,” stated Kate Anderson, GO-GLSM President.
Anderson further stated; “We support the best intentions of the LIA, the LRC, as well as government officials when they are working hard to instill a spirit of cooperation among all members of the GLSM watershed, but so long as many of the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act and state law are being violated, our mission is to insist through political activism that all our elected officials have the courage to take the steps necessary to clean-up the lake in an expedient manner, including new laws for substantial penalties for any violators.”
Far too many citizens of Auglaize and Mercer Counties are continuing to pay the price as they watch their property values decline. And there is evidence that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have reduced buying mortgages of lake-related properties. Last year, Grand Lake St. Marys was the only lake in Ohio posted with a health advisory for the entire year.
Business owners in the area have seen their profits drop, resulting in job losses in the area. In 2007, Auglaize and Mercer Counties received $137.5 million dollars through tourism. In 2012, the total tourism dollars was only $44.5 million. These small agricultural communities have lost two-thirds of their tourism dollars, which translates into a greater financial strain for these local governments who provide necessary public services.
“We are focusing on the government agencies that have the responsibility for keeping the lake, its tributaries and the watershed pollution free,” Anderson continued, “and there has been much misinformation out there regarding the clean-up of our great lake. We do applaud ODNR Director Jim Zehringer for acknowledging that phosphate runoff is a dominate factor in feeding the proliferating algae and we support his position that farmland field tiles may be adding to the problem. If the State of Ohio were to put a moratorium on excessive manure ‘disposal’ in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed and enforced it, Mother Nature, along with some already funded mechanical remedies, could help accelerate the lake’s healing process.”
The fact that Grand Lake St. Marys watershed has been designated a “distressed watershed” and the lake has been labeled Ohio's most degraded, serves as factual evidence that officials at the state level are aware that the remedy includes significant phosphate reduction. The solution is political and Governor Kasich, the State of Ohio legislature and all politicians associated with the GLSM watershed, including the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, need to know with certainty that a few abusive parties are hurting real people and it is time to put a stop to it.
For those interested in helping GO-GLSM fight for a clean lake, contact Kate Anderson at goglsm@att.net
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Guardians of the Grand Lake St. Marys
Kate Anderson – goglsm@att.net, 614-558-3105
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (May 23, 2013)
Guardians will fight for Clean-up of Grand Lake St. Marys
St. Marys, Ohio – The upcoming Memorial Day weekend, which signals the beginning of summer and its activities, will be met with some trepidation for those around Grand Lake St. Marys as people in the area wonder what this season has in store for the lake. The Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys (GO-GLSM) announced its formation today to help fight for a clean Grand Lake St. Marys. “With the lake being posted with health warnings since 2009, Governor Kasich’s campaign promise to clean up the lake and stop the pollution has been a hollow one, and the GO-GLSM will work with all dedicated organizations to restore Grand Lake St. Marys to the outstanding tourist destination it once was,” stated Kate Anderson, GO-GLSM President.
Anderson further stated; “We support the best intentions of the LIA, the LRC, as well as government officials when they are working hard to instill a spirit of cooperation among all members of the GLSM watershed, but so long as many of the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act and state law are being violated, our mission is to insist through political activism that all our elected officials have the courage to take the steps necessary to clean-up the lake in an expedient manner, including new laws for substantial penalties for any violators.”
Far too many citizens of Auglaize and Mercer Counties are continuing to pay the price as they watch their property values decline. And there is evidence that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have reduced buying mortgages of lake-related properties. Last year, Grand Lake St. Marys was the only lake in Ohio posted with a health advisory for the entire year.
Business owners in the area have seen their profits drop, resulting in job losses in the area. In 2007, Auglaize and Mercer Counties received $137.5 million dollars through tourism. In 2012, the total tourism dollars was only $44.5 million. These small agricultural communities have lost two-thirds of their tourism dollars, which translates into a greater financial strain for these local governments who provide necessary public services.
“We are focusing on the government agencies that have the responsibility for keeping the lake, its tributaries and the watershed pollution free,” Anderson continued, “and there has been much misinformation out there regarding the clean-up of our great lake. We do applaud ODNR Director Jim Zehringer for acknowledging that phosphate runoff is a dominate factor in feeding the proliferating algae and we support his position that farmland field tiles may be adding to the problem. If the State of Ohio were to put a moratorium on excessive manure ‘disposal’ in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed and enforced it, Mother Nature, along with some already funded mechanical remedies, could help accelerate the lake’s healing process.”
The fact that Grand Lake St. Marys watershed has been designated a “distressed watershed” and the lake has been labeled Ohio's most degraded, serves as factual evidence that officials at the state level are aware that the remedy includes significant phosphate reduction. The solution is political and Governor Kasich, the State of Ohio legislature and all politicians associated with the GLSM watershed, including the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, need to know with certainty that a few abusive parties are hurting real people and it is time to put a stop to it.
For those interested in helping GO-GLSM fight for a clean lake, contact Kate Anderson at goglsm@att.net
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