Know the truth about Grand Lake St. Marys!
During Gov. Kasich's administration, the toxins in GLSM
have INCREASED 462%.
have INCREASED 462%.
While agri-business continue to make profits, near lake people are losing property values to the tune of $51,000,000. Many of these people are retired and their homes are their largest investment. Why do the agri-business farms in our watershed get all the help but people losing property values are ignored by the Kasich Administration.
In 2017, toxins reached a new high coming of 194ppb.
How to Recognize Blue Green Algae and Recommendations for Personal Safety
( Provided through the OH EPA website)
Abuse of federal funds in the GLSM Watershed
Daily Standard
Friday, April 7th, 2017
SWCD's resolution supported
By Nancy Allen
A state organization that protects soil and water resources has endorsed a local resolution to discourage misuse of federal funds and AG conservation structures, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District board members learned Thursday.
The state delegate body of Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in February endorsed the resolution submitted by the Mercer SWCD. The resolution authorizes the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to fine and collect refunds when producers use structures and buildings financed with Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds for anything unrelated to manure management.
The resolution states that a farmer must use the structure as intended for the life of the practice rather than the life of the contract. Contracts typically span 3-6 years while the lifespan of structures are typically 10-15 years, leaving significant time when NRCS has no authority over structures built with its funds, the resolution says.
If the resolution is approved, it could become part of federal NRCS guidelines, said Nikki Hawk, Mercer SWCD district administrator/education specialist. The process could take 18 months or more before the new regulation is in place, Hawk said.
The Mercer SWCD board in December first discussed submitting the resolution. At that meeting, Ryan Kemper, NRCS district conservationist for Mercer County, said he had received complaints about producers who had received federal funds to construct dry-stack manure storage buildings and then later used them to store farm equipment, or house livestock. Mercer SWCD technician Matt Heckler said he had received similar complaints.
The resolution would cover any structure installed using EQIP funds, including feed lot covers and holding ponds. Locally officials have received the most complaints about misuse of dry-stack manure storage buildings, Heckler said.
EQIP funds help farmers pay to install practices designed to stem runoff from manure that can pollute water bodies.
The resolution says "if it is determined that an EQIP funded structure is being utilized for a purpose other than the original intent resulting in a resource concern, the producer will be required to pay liquidated damages and will not be eligible for a new EQIP contract to address the same resource concern for the lifespan of the existing structure."
"The concern is that people could use the buildings to store farm equipment or other uses it wasn't intended for and pile their manure outside," district technician Matt Heckler said. "That can cause a resource concern."
Heckler noted that the Farm Service Agency has a similar mechanism to issue fines for infractions.
Friday, April 7th, 2017
SWCD's resolution supported
By Nancy Allen
A state organization that protects soil and water resources has endorsed a local resolution to discourage misuse of federal funds and AG conservation structures, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District board members learned Thursday.
The state delegate body of Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in February endorsed the resolution submitted by the Mercer SWCD. The resolution authorizes the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to fine and collect refunds when producers use structures and buildings financed with Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds for anything unrelated to manure management.
The resolution states that a farmer must use the structure as intended for the life of the practice rather than the life of the contract. Contracts typically span 3-6 years while the lifespan of structures are typically 10-15 years, leaving significant time when NRCS has no authority over structures built with its funds, the resolution says.
If the resolution is approved, it could become part of federal NRCS guidelines, said Nikki Hawk, Mercer SWCD district administrator/education specialist. The process could take 18 months or more before the new regulation is in place, Hawk said.
The Mercer SWCD board in December first discussed submitting the resolution. At that meeting, Ryan Kemper, NRCS district conservationist for Mercer County, said he had received complaints about producers who had received federal funds to construct dry-stack manure storage buildings and then later used them to store farm equipment, or house livestock. Mercer SWCD technician Matt Heckler said he had received similar complaints.
The resolution would cover any structure installed using EQIP funds, including feed lot covers and holding ponds. Locally officials have received the most complaints about misuse of dry-stack manure storage buildings, Heckler said.
EQIP funds help farmers pay to install practices designed to stem runoff from manure that can pollute water bodies.
The resolution says "if it is determined that an EQIP funded structure is being utilized for a purpose other than the original intent resulting in a resource concern, the producer will be required to pay liquidated damages and will not be eligible for a new EQIP contract to address the same resource concern for the lifespan of the existing structure."
"The concern is that people could use the buildings to store farm equipment or other uses it wasn't intended for and pile their manure outside," district technician Matt Heckler said. "That can cause a resource concern."
Heckler noted that the Farm Service Agency has a similar mechanism to issue fines for infractions.
Why the European Union banned growth hormones and antibiotics in livestock?
Other Meat Concerns: Antibiotics, Hormones and Toxins
Antibiotics
In the unsanitary conditions typical of confined feedlots used to fatten livestock, animals are routinely given continual low doses of antibiotics in feed to prevent sickness, promote faster growth and boost profits. The sheer volume of antibiotics being used may pose serious risks to public and environmental health, primarily because it may contribute to antibiotic resistance in pathogens that cause illness in people (Chee-Sanford 2009, Shea 2004).
Antibiotics used this way get into the environment via soil and water, often from animal waste that is either stored or spread on fields. Once in the water, these drugs can get into people (Chee-Sanford 2009). A 2007 study by scientists at the University of Illinois found that genes that conferred resistance to the widely used antibiotic tetracycline had transferred from bacteria in waste pools of hog manure into the bacteria in nearby water wells (Koike 2007). Groundwater is an important source of public drinking water. Lead researcher Dr. Roderick Mackie commented, “At this stage, we’re not really concerned about who’s got these genes. If the genes are there, potentially they can get into the right organism at the right time and confer resistance to an antibiotic that’s being used to treat disease” (University of Illinois 2007).
According to an analysis of U.S. Food and Drug Administration data by the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future, 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in 2009 were for use on livestock and poultry, and only 20 percent was for human medical use (Center for a Livable Future 2010). In 2010, the FDA said in a non-enforceable “guidance” that because “antimicrobial drug use contributes to the emergence of drug-resistant organisms, these important drugs must be used judiciously in both animal and human medicine.” It urged strict limits on antibiotic use in livestock (FDA 2010).
The FDA has tried for decades to restrict the use of antibiotics for non-therapeutic uses but has been stymied repeatedly by Congress (Harris 2010). At a 2010 press conference, former Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein said the FDA believes “this is a public health issue of some urgency” (Harris 2010).
Hormones
Residues of artificial hormones that are widely used to promote growth in beef cattle, dairy cows and sheep may also increase the risk of cancer in humans and lead to higher rates of infection in animals. Many studies have found increased risk of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer associated with higher levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in blood and serum (Yu 2000, Hansen 1997). Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), also known as rBGH, causes a significant increase in IGF-1 levels in milk from treated cows (Hansen 1997). Further, rBST-treated cows suffer higher rates and more severe cases of udder tissue inflammation and infection (mastitis), which requires increased use of antibiotics (Craven 1991, Pell 1992, FDA 1993, Monsanto 1993, Kronfeld 1997).
Using hormones this way is banned in most European countries and in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand and is not permitted in U.S. pork or poultry products, but it is common in U.S. beef cattle, dairy cows and sheep (Clancey 2006, USDA 2011).
More than a decade ago, scientists in Europe raised serious concerns about a wide range of potential health effects related to hormone use in livestock, particularly in the U.S. In 1999, the European Union’s Scientific Committee for Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health said in a press release that six commonly used growth hormones had the potential to cause “endocrine, developmental, immunological, neurobiological, immunotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic effects,” adding that “even exposure to small levels of residues in meat and meat products carries risks, and no threshold levels can be established for any of the six substances” (EU 1999). The EU subsequently banned imports of U.S. beef because of scientific concerns about hormones, but the U.S government successfully challenged the ban in the World Trade Organization.
Toxins
“The best way to reduce your personal dioxins level and your potential risks from dioxins is to reduce dietary exposures to dioxins.”
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
A number of widespread environmental toxins build up in animal tissues and are found in meat, sometimes at high levels. According to the FDA, “studies suggest that exposure to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) may lead to a variety of adverse health effects, including reproductive and developmental problems, cardiovascular disease, increased diabetes and increased cancer. Because DLCs tend to accumulate in the fat of food-producing animals, consumption of animal-derived foods (e.g., meat, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy products) is considered to be the major route of human exposure to low levels of DLCs.” (FDA 2004a) According to the FDA, most human exposure to dioxins comes from food, with 95 percent of that coming from animal fats (FDA 2004a).
Among fish, tuna and farmed salmon are of particular concern. A 2004 analysis of two metric tons of farmed and wild salmon purchased from stores around the world showed consistently and significantly higher concentrations of PCBs, dioxins, and the widely banned insecticides toxaphene and dieldrin in farmed salmon (Hites 2004). EWG’s tests of farmed salmon from U.S. stores support this finding. On average, the farmed salmon had 16 times the dioxin-like PCBs found in wild salmon, four times the levels of beef, and 3.4 times the levels found in other seafood (EWG 2000). Mercury contamination of seafood is also a well-documented problem. According to the FDA, “Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of methyl mercury. However, larger fish that have lived longer have the highest levels of methyl mercury because they’ve had more time to accumulate it. These large fish (swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish) pose the greatest risk” (FDA 2004b).
- See more at: http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/other-meat-concerns-antibiotics-hormones-and-toxins/#sthash.jDxO4KHS.dpuf
Antibiotics
In the unsanitary conditions typical of confined feedlots used to fatten livestock, animals are routinely given continual low doses of antibiotics in feed to prevent sickness, promote faster growth and boost profits. The sheer volume of antibiotics being used may pose serious risks to public and environmental health, primarily because it may contribute to antibiotic resistance in pathogens that cause illness in people (Chee-Sanford 2009, Shea 2004).
Antibiotics used this way get into the environment via soil and water, often from animal waste that is either stored or spread on fields. Once in the water, these drugs can get into people (Chee-Sanford 2009). A 2007 study by scientists at the University of Illinois found that genes that conferred resistance to the widely used antibiotic tetracycline had transferred from bacteria in waste pools of hog manure into the bacteria in nearby water wells (Koike 2007). Groundwater is an important source of public drinking water. Lead researcher Dr. Roderick Mackie commented, “At this stage, we’re not really concerned about who’s got these genes. If the genes are there, potentially they can get into the right organism at the right time and confer resistance to an antibiotic that’s being used to treat disease” (University of Illinois 2007).
According to an analysis of U.S. Food and Drug Administration data by the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future, 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in 2009 were for use on livestock and poultry, and only 20 percent was for human medical use (Center for a Livable Future 2010). In 2010, the FDA said in a non-enforceable “guidance” that because “antimicrobial drug use contributes to the emergence of drug-resistant organisms, these important drugs must be used judiciously in both animal and human medicine.” It urged strict limits on antibiotic use in livestock (FDA 2010).
The FDA has tried for decades to restrict the use of antibiotics for non-therapeutic uses but has been stymied repeatedly by Congress (Harris 2010). At a 2010 press conference, former Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein said the FDA believes “this is a public health issue of some urgency” (Harris 2010).
Hormones
Residues of artificial hormones that are widely used to promote growth in beef cattle, dairy cows and sheep may also increase the risk of cancer in humans and lead to higher rates of infection in animals. Many studies have found increased risk of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer associated with higher levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in blood and serum (Yu 2000, Hansen 1997). Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), also known as rBGH, causes a significant increase in IGF-1 levels in milk from treated cows (Hansen 1997). Further, rBST-treated cows suffer higher rates and more severe cases of udder tissue inflammation and infection (mastitis), which requires increased use of antibiotics (Craven 1991, Pell 1992, FDA 1993, Monsanto 1993, Kronfeld 1997).
Using hormones this way is banned in most European countries and in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand and is not permitted in U.S. pork or poultry products, but it is common in U.S. beef cattle, dairy cows and sheep (Clancey 2006, USDA 2011).
More than a decade ago, scientists in Europe raised serious concerns about a wide range of potential health effects related to hormone use in livestock, particularly in the U.S. In 1999, the European Union’s Scientific Committee for Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health said in a press release that six commonly used growth hormones had the potential to cause “endocrine, developmental, immunological, neurobiological, immunotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic effects,” adding that “even exposure to small levels of residues in meat and meat products carries risks, and no threshold levels can be established for any of the six substances” (EU 1999). The EU subsequently banned imports of U.S. beef because of scientific concerns about hormones, but the U.S government successfully challenged the ban in the World Trade Organization.
Toxins
“The best way to reduce your personal dioxins level and your potential risks from dioxins is to reduce dietary exposures to dioxins.”
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
A number of widespread environmental toxins build up in animal tissues and are found in meat, sometimes at high levels. According to the FDA, “studies suggest that exposure to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) may lead to a variety of adverse health effects, including reproductive and developmental problems, cardiovascular disease, increased diabetes and increased cancer. Because DLCs tend to accumulate in the fat of food-producing animals, consumption of animal-derived foods (e.g., meat, poultry, eggs, fish and dairy products) is considered to be the major route of human exposure to low levels of DLCs.” (FDA 2004a) According to the FDA, most human exposure to dioxins comes from food, with 95 percent of that coming from animal fats (FDA 2004a).
Among fish, tuna and farmed salmon are of particular concern. A 2004 analysis of two metric tons of farmed and wild salmon purchased from stores around the world showed consistently and significantly higher concentrations of PCBs, dioxins, and the widely banned insecticides toxaphene and dieldrin in farmed salmon (Hites 2004). EWG’s tests of farmed salmon from U.S. stores support this finding. On average, the farmed salmon had 16 times the dioxin-like PCBs found in wild salmon, four times the levels of beef, and 3.4 times the levels found in other seafood (EWG 2000). Mercury contamination of seafood is also a well-documented problem. According to the FDA, “Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of methyl mercury. However, larger fish that have lived longer have the highest levels of methyl mercury because they’ve had more time to accumulate it. These large fish (swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish) pose the greatest risk” (FDA 2004b).
- See more at: http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/other-meat-concerns-antibiotics-hormones-and-toxins/#sthash.jDxO4KHS.dpuf
Recent article by the Lima News says Silt in Lake Erie is not a big contributor to phosphorous loading. Points to the greatest source of phosphorous loading is from agricultural run-off.
Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys Conducts Press Conference on the steps of the State Capitol!
Comments by Kate Anderson, President of Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys on the west steps of the State Capitol on 8/7/14.
I want to thank everyone who is here today. I am Kate Anderson and I’m the President of the Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys.
We are gathered here today to let you know that while Toledo has received much attention in the last week regarding their polluted water supply, and they deserve the attention, we want to remind everyone that the most polluted lake in Ohio is Grand Lake St. Marys. We have sent a letter of concern to the Mayor of Toledo that they should not hold their breath while waiting for Gov. Kasich to help with their pollution problem. When the toxin levels reached 142ppb in June at GLSM, we didn’t hear a word from the Governor’s office.
The citizens in Auglaize and Mercer counties have been waiting for nearly two decades for the State of Ohio to clean up Grand Lake St. Marys. For seven years, the State of Ohio has had the tool to clean up our lake with the “Total Maximum Daily Load” plan, which specifically spells out that approximately 90-100% of all phosphorous, nitrates and fecal coliform should be stopped from coming into GLSM if there is any hope of cleaning up the lake.
Gov. Kasich stated in a recent newspaper article that the State of Ohio has known they had a problem in Toledo but stated that they didn’t know how to measure the toxins. If he doesn’t know then it is because he is out of touch with his own state agencies because we get the toxin levels for GLSM from the OEPA who reports the toxins bi-weekly. But just in case Gov. Kasich has failed to contact the OEPA, let me tell him, the measure for toxins is 1 part per billion or ppb for drinking water and 6ppb for recreational water.
Four years ago, Gov. Kasich established a work group to monitor GLSM’s pollution and identify ways to clean it up. The citizens of Auglaize and Mercer counties are still waiting for a serious clean up effort. The Kasich Administration has deliberately chosen not to clean up GLSM and we have little hope for Lake Erie. Frankly, if citizens around Lake Erie think the Kasich Administration can fix their pollution problem, I hate to inform them that Gov. Kasich’s Administration couldn’t clean up our little 13,500-acre lake, so why would anyone think the State of Ohio could clean up Lake Erie.
Ohio’s taxpayers deserve the truth from Gov. Kasich and his administration. They deserve to know if their drinking water and recreational waters are safe. Until proper laws, rules and regulations are in place to protect the State’s waterways, citizens should expect little to change. In 1969 when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire because of pollution, the State of Ohio and other agencies stepped in and cleaned up that environmental disaster in just five years through laws, rules and regulations.
The Kasich Administration is now attempting to put the fox in charge of the chicken house by transferring the monitoring and management of the nutrient management plans (NMP’s) to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and away from the OEPA and ODNR. We have tried to obtain the NMPs for the GLSM watershed to determine what is laid out in those plans. The Kasich Administration continues to deny us access to these public documents. The citizens of Ohio deserve to know what is in those plans. We want accountability for those polluting Ohio’s waterways.
Because of the State of Ohio’s unwillingness to stop the pollution, we are asking for the following from Gov. Kasich:
1. Full disclosure of all nutrient management plans in all polluted watersheds.
2. Stop the local efforts around GLSM, to lower the health warnings along the beaches and boat launches at the lake.
3. Full testing of the water in GLSM for nutrients and pharmaceuticals with full disclosure to the public.
Since we have been stone walled about these items, we want to announce that as of today, we have sent letters to the following:
1. The Ohio Attorney General asking for an independent investigation of the Kasich administration’s implementation of the Clean Water Act and any violations by members of his administration to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
2. The U.S. EPA to step in and take over the management of the implementation of the Clean Water Act by identifying strategies to permanently clean up GLSM and other bodies of water in Ohio in a timely manner of five years or less. Strategies, timelines, evaluation reports and other related reports about GLSM should be fully disclosed to the public.
3. The U.S. General Accounting Office to conduct an audit of the State’s use of federal funds for implementing the Clean Water Act and that the full findings be available to the public.
4. In the interim, we are asking Governor Kasich to proclaim a state of emergency for the GLSM watershed and stop the application of manure on land in the watershed, and the application of other nutrients. We ask that the ban remain in place until irreversible actions have been achieved and the toxin levels in GLSM are below the OEPA limit of 6ppb.
5. And we are announcing the plan to create a legal fund to aid us in the fight to stop the pollution of GLSM.
We have heard many say that it has taken decades for GLSM to get this polluted but as the charts show that it really hasn’t taken decades. What has happened to GLSM is that the mismanagement of the watershed by the Kasich Administration has made GLSM Ohio’s most polluted lake and the only designated “distressed watershed” in Ohio.
Two decades of neglect by the State of Ohio has created unsanitary and unhealthy conditions for human use of GLSM. There is more that the State of Ohio should have done by previous administrations but the condition of the lake has considerably worsened over the past four years. These worsened conditions of Ohio’s waterways have been on Gov. Kasich’s watch. The longer the State waits to clean up our lakes, the more expensive it will be.
The Kasich Administration has found the following items to be acceptable losses to the taxpayers in Auglaize and Mercer counties.
§ Health and Safety by people living around the lake and using the lake;
§ Quality of life is significantly lower than ever before;
§ Loss of businesses;
§ Loss of jobs;
§ Loss of property values; and
§ Loss of retirement investments.
Again, these are acceptable losses by the Kasich administration for the communities in the GLSM watershed for his “do nothing approach.”
We understand first hand, the horrible situation in Toledo. The City of Celina’s public water supply comes from GLSM and they spent approximately $7 million for an additional filtration system to filter the toxins out of their drinking water. More and more cities will have to spend millions of dollars due to the failed policies of the Kasich administration and the State Legislature. Sen. Faber and Rep. Buchy from the GLSM area have ignored what is happening to the citizens they represent for favor of the farm lobby and bigger profits for agribusiness.
We have before you samples of water from Grand Lake St. Marys. Our health advisory reads, “WARNING – High levels of algal toxins have been detected. Swimming and wading are not recommended for the very old, the very young or those with compromised immune systems.” Without better-defined warnings, who is to say that someone like me wouldn’t get sick from this water. These signs are in limited supply around our lake and there are many citizens in the area who have never seen these postings.
The citizens of Ohio need aggressive action to stop the pollution of Ohio’s waterways by passing laws, rules and regulations that will stop the pollution and will immediately begin cleaning up the water in GLSM, Lake Erie, Buckeye Lake, Hoover Lake and many others. When our elected officials put agribusiness profits and farm lobby dollars before the health and well being of the citizens of Ohio, then something needs to change. We should consider the removal of such parties from office and according to Chapter 3, of the Ohio Revised Code under General Provisions, Section 3.07, it states, “ Any person holding office in this state, or in any municipal corporation, county, or subdivision thereof, who willfully is … guilty of gross neglect of duty, gross immorality, … shall have judgment of forfeiture of said office…”
One of our members recently suggested that the state should clean up GLSM before someone gets sick and dies, of which one of our state elected officials replied, “People die everyday.” This is gross neglect of duty and gross immorality. When Gov. Kasich admits that they knew there was a problem in Toledo but ignored it because they didn’t know how to measure the toxins when the OEPA has been measuring the toxins on a bi-weekly schedule for years, this is gross neglect of duty and gross immorality.
We need a champion in the legislature to fight for us. We need a Governor and state representatives who put the health and safety of the public before agribusiness profits. We need a champion for the hardworking citizens of Ohio. The good citizens around Grand Lake St. Marys need help. Can someone please step up and help us!
I want to thank everyone who is here today. I am Kate Anderson and I’m the President of the Guardians of Grand Lake St. Marys.
We are gathered here today to let you know that while Toledo has received much attention in the last week regarding their polluted water supply, and they deserve the attention, we want to remind everyone that the most polluted lake in Ohio is Grand Lake St. Marys. We have sent a letter of concern to the Mayor of Toledo that they should not hold their breath while waiting for Gov. Kasich to help with their pollution problem. When the toxin levels reached 142ppb in June at GLSM, we didn’t hear a word from the Governor’s office.
The citizens in Auglaize and Mercer counties have been waiting for nearly two decades for the State of Ohio to clean up Grand Lake St. Marys. For seven years, the State of Ohio has had the tool to clean up our lake with the “Total Maximum Daily Load” plan, which specifically spells out that approximately 90-100% of all phosphorous, nitrates and fecal coliform should be stopped from coming into GLSM if there is any hope of cleaning up the lake.
Gov. Kasich stated in a recent newspaper article that the State of Ohio has known they had a problem in Toledo but stated that they didn’t know how to measure the toxins. If he doesn’t know then it is because he is out of touch with his own state agencies because we get the toxin levels for GLSM from the OEPA who reports the toxins bi-weekly. But just in case Gov. Kasich has failed to contact the OEPA, let me tell him, the measure for toxins is 1 part per billion or ppb for drinking water and 6ppb for recreational water.
Four years ago, Gov. Kasich established a work group to monitor GLSM’s pollution and identify ways to clean it up. The citizens of Auglaize and Mercer counties are still waiting for a serious clean up effort. The Kasich Administration has deliberately chosen not to clean up GLSM and we have little hope for Lake Erie. Frankly, if citizens around Lake Erie think the Kasich Administration can fix their pollution problem, I hate to inform them that Gov. Kasich’s Administration couldn’t clean up our little 13,500-acre lake, so why would anyone think the State of Ohio could clean up Lake Erie.
Ohio’s taxpayers deserve the truth from Gov. Kasich and his administration. They deserve to know if their drinking water and recreational waters are safe. Until proper laws, rules and regulations are in place to protect the State’s waterways, citizens should expect little to change. In 1969 when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire because of pollution, the State of Ohio and other agencies stepped in and cleaned up that environmental disaster in just five years through laws, rules and regulations.
The Kasich Administration is now attempting to put the fox in charge of the chicken house by transferring the monitoring and management of the nutrient management plans (NMP’s) to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and away from the OEPA and ODNR. We have tried to obtain the NMPs for the GLSM watershed to determine what is laid out in those plans. The Kasich Administration continues to deny us access to these public documents. The citizens of Ohio deserve to know what is in those plans. We want accountability for those polluting Ohio’s waterways.
Because of the State of Ohio’s unwillingness to stop the pollution, we are asking for the following from Gov. Kasich:
1. Full disclosure of all nutrient management plans in all polluted watersheds.
2. Stop the local efforts around GLSM, to lower the health warnings along the beaches and boat launches at the lake.
3. Full testing of the water in GLSM for nutrients and pharmaceuticals with full disclosure to the public.
Since we have been stone walled about these items, we want to announce that as of today, we have sent letters to the following:
1. The Ohio Attorney General asking for an independent investigation of the Kasich administration’s implementation of the Clean Water Act and any violations by members of his administration to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
2. The U.S. EPA to step in and take over the management of the implementation of the Clean Water Act by identifying strategies to permanently clean up GLSM and other bodies of water in Ohio in a timely manner of five years or less. Strategies, timelines, evaluation reports and other related reports about GLSM should be fully disclosed to the public.
3. The U.S. General Accounting Office to conduct an audit of the State’s use of federal funds for implementing the Clean Water Act and that the full findings be available to the public.
4. In the interim, we are asking Governor Kasich to proclaim a state of emergency for the GLSM watershed and stop the application of manure on land in the watershed, and the application of other nutrients. We ask that the ban remain in place until irreversible actions have been achieved and the toxin levels in GLSM are below the OEPA limit of 6ppb.
5. And we are announcing the plan to create a legal fund to aid us in the fight to stop the pollution of GLSM.
We have heard many say that it has taken decades for GLSM to get this polluted but as the charts show that it really hasn’t taken decades. What has happened to GLSM is that the mismanagement of the watershed by the Kasich Administration has made GLSM Ohio’s most polluted lake and the only designated “distressed watershed” in Ohio.
Two decades of neglect by the State of Ohio has created unsanitary and unhealthy conditions for human use of GLSM. There is more that the State of Ohio should have done by previous administrations but the condition of the lake has considerably worsened over the past four years. These worsened conditions of Ohio’s waterways have been on Gov. Kasich’s watch. The longer the State waits to clean up our lakes, the more expensive it will be.
The Kasich Administration has found the following items to be acceptable losses to the taxpayers in Auglaize and Mercer counties.
§ Health and Safety by people living around the lake and using the lake;
§ Quality of life is significantly lower than ever before;
§ Loss of businesses;
§ Loss of jobs;
§ Loss of property values; and
§ Loss of retirement investments.
Again, these are acceptable losses by the Kasich administration for the communities in the GLSM watershed for his “do nothing approach.”
We understand first hand, the horrible situation in Toledo. The City of Celina’s public water supply comes from GLSM and they spent approximately $7 million for an additional filtration system to filter the toxins out of their drinking water. More and more cities will have to spend millions of dollars due to the failed policies of the Kasich administration and the State Legislature. Sen. Faber and Rep. Buchy from the GLSM area have ignored what is happening to the citizens they represent for favor of the farm lobby and bigger profits for agribusiness.
We have before you samples of water from Grand Lake St. Marys. Our health advisory reads, “WARNING – High levels of algal toxins have been detected. Swimming and wading are not recommended for the very old, the very young or those with compromised immune systems.” Without better-defined warnings, who is to say that someone like me wouldn’t get sick from this water. These signs are in limited supply around our lake and there are many citizens in the area who have never seen these postings.
The citizens of Ohio need aggressive action to stop the pollution of Ohio’s waterways by passing laws, rules and regulations that will stop the pollution and will immediately begin cleaning up the water in GLSM, Lake Erie, Buckeye Lake, Hoover Lake and many others. When our elected officials put agribusiness profits and farm lobby dollars before the health and well being of the citizens of Ohio, then something needs to change. We should consider the removal of such parties from office and according to Chapter 3, of the Ohio Revised Code under General Provisions, Section 3.07, it states, “ Any person holding office in this state, or in any municipal corporation, county, or subdivision thereof, who willfully is … guilty of gross neglect of duty, gross immorality, … shall have judgment of forfeiture of said office…”
One of our members recently suggested that the state should clean up GLSM before someone gets sick and dies, of which one of our state elected officials replied, “People die everyday.” This is gross neglect of duty and gross immorality. When Gov. Kasich admits that they knew there was a problem in Toledo but ignored it because they didn’t know how to measure the toxins when the OEPA has been measuring the toxins on a bi-weekly schedule for years, this is gross neglect of duty and gross immorality.
We need a champion in the legislature to fight for us. We need a Governor and state representatives who put the health and safety of the public before agribusiness profits. We need a champion for the hardworking citizens of Ohio. The good citizens around Grand Lake St. Marys need help. Can someone please step up and help us!
Heat, algae kill hundreds of fish at Grand Lake St. Marys
High temperatures and toxic blue-green algae proved a deadly combination for some fish in Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio.
Lake-area residents and Ohio parks officials found several hundred fish — mostly gizzard shad and some bluegill and crappies — floating in the lake’s shoreline channels over the weekend.
Fish kills are an annual summertime occurrence at the shallow, 13,000-acre lake, officials said. They pop up when decomposing algae rob the water of oxygen and suffocate some fish.
Gizzard shad are sensitive to low oxygen levels and typically die in the greatest numbers, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
“We just came off a week of extremely hot days and a calm lake with no wind,” said Milt Miller, manager of the Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Commission, referring to weather conditions that help the algae grow.
The lake has been plagued by toxic algae since federal officials discovered it there in 2009. Annual warnings have hurt the local tourism economy.
Also called cyanobacteria, blue-green algae are common in most lakes. In Grand Lake St. Marys, they grow thick feeding on phosphorus from manure and fertilizers that rain washes from nearby farm fields.
The algae produce liver and nerve toxins that can sicken people and kill pets and fish.
Similar blooms appear in Lake Erie and other inland lakes, usually starting in late July or August. Warnings at Grand Lake St. Marys advise small children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems that swimming and wading “are not recommended.” The warnings typically appear on Memorial Day weekend.
The state has spent more than $8 million fighting algae there. Most of the money was spent on two chemical treatments that officials hoped would starve the algae by removing phosphorus from the water.
Still, Miller said, more people are visiting the lake each summer, and concerns about the algae blooms are diminishing.
“We have had no reports of any human or animal illness,” he said.
shunt@dispatch.com
Heat spurs fish kill at GLSM
Dayton Daily News
Posted: 3:00 p.m. Monday, July 22, 2013
CELINA —
Hundreds of fish are dead at Grand Lake St. Marys, and officials said last week’s heat wave is to blame.
“We’re currently experiencing low dissolved oxygen levels as well as water temperatures due to last week’s weather,” said Grand Lake St. Mary’s Park Manager Brian Miller.
He said as the algae population dies off, it uses up the dissolved oxygen, which then impacts aquatic life.
Most of the fish that have died as Gizzard Shad, as well as a few game fish. Officials have not quantified the number of dead fish, he said. More fish are expected to die because of cloud cover, he said, explaining that sunlight is needed for the photosynthesis process to create more dissolved oxygen.
In areas where people have installed aeration systems, which purifies the water and pushes dissolved oxygen back into it, fish die-offs have not been observed, he said.
Posted: 3:00 p.m. Monday, July 22, 2013
CELINA —
Hundreds of fish are dead at Grand Lake St. Marys, and officials said last week’s heat wave is to blame.
“We’re currently experiencing low dissolved oxygen levels as well as water temperatures due to last week’s weather,” said Grand Lake St. Mary’s Park Manager Brian Miller.
He said as the algae population dies off, it uses up the dissolved oxygen, which then impacts aquatic life.
Most of the fish that have died as Gizzard Shad, as well as a few game fish. Officials have not quantified the number of dead fish, he said. More fish are expected to die because of cloud cover, he said, explaining that sunlight is needed for the photosynthesis process to create more dissolved oxygen.
In areas where people have installed aeration systems, which purifies the water and pushes dissolved oxygen back into it, fish die-offs have not been observed, he said.
Indian Lake prevented algae problem
Columbus Dispatch, Letters to the Editors
Tuesday July 23, 2013 6:27 AM
Blue-green algae shutting down Ohio lake recreation (“Bill could curb a source of algae,” Dispatch editorial, Monday)? Not everywhere. There is one Ohio lake that doesn’t have this problem and is the best-kept secret for lake-loving people.
About 25 years ago, stakeholders at Indian Lake got together and held a series of meetings about what they could do to protect the long-term future of the lake. This included farmers, business owners, residents, government officials and the like. They effectively formed the first watershed-management organization in Ohio.
What they accomplished through their diligent and dedicated efforts is amazing. About 75 percent of the 63,000 acres of watershed to this 5,800 acre lake is now under no-till farming. Twenty-five years ago, an estimated 80,000 tons of sediment was flowing into the lake each year. That is down to 15,000 tons today. Fertilizer run-off into Indian Lake is not even an issue. Visibility 25 years ago was 6 inches; now it’s 3 1/2 feet.
These people were true visionaries who sought to prevent problems, probably not even knowing about blue-green algae back then. Why the other lakes in Ohio didn’t follow the lead of Indian Lake as far as watershed management, I don’t know, but they — and we through our tax dollars — are paying for that lack of common sense now.
So next time you want to go fishing, boating, swimming or dining lakefront, remember there is a lake just one hour from Columbus that doesn’t have and won’t have that problem: Indian Lake.
TIM PICCIANO
Managing member
Cranberry Resort
Waterfront Bar & Grill
Indian Lake
Tuesday July 23, 2013 6:27 AM
Blue-green algae shutting down Ohio lake recreation (“Bill could curb a source of algae,” Dispatch editorial, Monday)? Not everywhere. There is one Ohio lake that doesn’t have this problem and is the best-kept secret for lake-loving people.
About 25 years ago, stakeholders at Indian Lake got together and held a series of meetings about what they could do to protect the long-term future of the lake. This included farmers, business owners, residents, government officials and the like. They effectively formed the first watershed-management organization in Ohio.
What they accomplished through their diligent and dedicated efforts is amazing. About 75 percent of the 63,000 acres of watershed to this 5,800 acre lake is now under no-till farming. Twenty-five years ago, an estimated 80,000 tons of sediment was flowing into the lake each year. That is down to 15,000 tons today. Fertilizer run-off into Indian Lake is not even an issue. Visibility 25 years ago was 6 inches; now it’s 3 1/2 feet.
These people were true visionaries who sought to prevent problems, probably not even knowing about blue-green algae back then. Why the other lakes in Ohio didn’t follow the lead of Indian Lake as far as watershed management, I don’t know, but they — and we through our tax dollars — are paying for that lack of common sense now.
So next time you want to go fishing, boating, swimming or dining lakefront, remember there is a lake just one hour from Columbus that doesn’t have and won’t have that problem: Indian Lake.
TIM PICCIANO
Managing member
Cranberry Resort
Waterfront Bar & Grill
Indian Lake
Portman, Nelson Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Combat Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia
Legislation takes critical steps toward protecting Ohio's Great Lakes and Grand Lake St. Marys from harmful algal blooms
June 27, 2013
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) today introduced the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013.
The Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013 would reauthorize the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act, which was first enacted in 1998 and reauthorized in 2004 and 2008 (16 U.S.C. 1451 note). For over a decade this program has served as the federal government’s research and response framework for harmful algal blooms. According to a recent NOAA report, U.S. seafood and tourism industries suffer annual losses of $82 million due to economic impacts of HABs.
“This legislation takes critical steps toward protecting Lake Erie and Grand Lake St. Marys from harmful algae that has become a tremendous problem for our state,” said Portman. “As families and businesses across Ohio continue to struggle during this time of economic uncertainty, we cannot afford to let this threat to our tourism, fishing industries, and health go unchecked.”
“We can’t sit back and let endangered creatures disappear,” said Nelson.
“We applaud Senator Portman for his leadership on providing a framework for a national, comprehensive, and targeted approach to reduce the growing environmental, economic, and human health threats posed by harmful algal blooms not only in coastal marine areas but the additional emphasis on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes provide over 80 percent of North America’s freshwater and harmful algal blooms are already bad and are becoming worse, especially in Western Lake Erie. This effort will help improve and maintain clean drinking water for Ohioans and other Great Lakes states while improving natural areas, recreational opportunities and economic development,” said Bill Stanley, The Nature Conservancy-Ohio’s assistant state director and director of conservation.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are episodes of excessive growth of poisonous or toxic algae that can cause illness or death in humans, pets, wildlife, or food sources such as fish and shellfish. HABs are thought to be caused by a combination of the right temperature, light, and nutrient conditions. Other environmental factors, such as the presence of non-native or invasive species, may also contribute to HABs. HABs occur in fresh and marine waters and result in the depletion of oxygen (hypoxia) in the water. Total costs over the past few decades from fish kills, human illness, and loss of tourism and fisheries revenue in the U.S. has been estimated at over $1 billion. The frequency and distribution of HABs have increased considerably across the U.S. in recent years, negatively affecting all coastal and Great Lakes states and numerous other inland states. Visitors to Ohio’s Lake Erie region spend more than $10.7 billion annually - which amounts to nearly 30 percent of Ohio’s total tourism dollars. Regional tourism also supports more than 100,000 jobs in northern Ohio and generates $750 million in state and local taxes.
During the 112th Congress, Senators Portman and Stabenow introduced the Stop Invasive Species Act, legislation to stop Asian carp from destroying the Great Lakes' ecosystem. The bill was signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012 as part of the transportation bill. Passing the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013 is another crucial step to restoring the health of our Great Lakes.
Today, Portman and Nelson were joined by original cosponsors Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Angus King (I-ME), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-Miss), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) today introduced the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013.
The Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013 would reauthorize the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act, which was first enacted in 1998 and reauthorized in 2004 and 2008 (16 U.S.C. 1451 note). For over a decade this program has served as the federal government’s research and response framework for harmful algal blooms. According to a recent NOAA report, U.S. seafood and tourism industries suffer annual losses of $82 million due to economic impacts of HABs.
“This legislation takes critical steps toward protecting Lake Erie and Grand Lake St. Marys from harmful algae that has become a tremendous problem for our state,” said Portman. “As families and businesses across Ohio continue to struggle during this time of economic uncertainty, we cannot afford to let this threat to our tourism, fishing industries, and health go unchecked.”
“We can’t sit back and let endangered creatures disappear,” said Nelson.
“We applaud Senator Portman for his leadership on providing a framework for a national, comprehensive, and targeted approach to reduce the growing environmental, economic, and human health threats posed by harmful algal blooms not only in coastal marine areas but the additional emphasis on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes provide over 80 percent of North America’s freshwater and harmful algal blooms are already bad and are becoming worse, especially in Western Lake Erie. This effort will help improve and maintain clean drinking water for Ohioans and other Great Lakes states while improving natural areas, recreational opportunities and economic development,” said Bill Stanley, The Nature Conservancy-Ohio’s assistant state director and director of conservation.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are episodes of excessive growth of poisonous or toxic algae that can cause illness or death in humans, pets, wildlife, or food sources such as fish and shellfish. HABs are thought to be caused by a combination of the right temperature, light, and nutrient conditions. Other environmental factors, such as the presence of non-native or invasive species, may also contribute to HABs. HABs occur in fresh and marine waters and result in the depletion of oxygen (hypoxia) in the water. Total costs over the past few decades from fish kills, human illness, and loss of tourism and fisheries revenue in the U.S. has been estimated at over $1 billion. The frequency and distribution of HABs have increased considerably across the U.S. in recent years, negatively affecting all coastal and Great Lakes states and numerous other inland states. Visitors to Ohio’s Lake Erie region spend more than $10.7 billion annually - which amounts to nearly 30 percent of Ohio’s total tourism dollars. Regional tourism also supports more than 100,000 jobs in northern Ohio and generates $750 million in state and local taxes.
During the 112th Congress, Senators Portman and Stabenow introduced the Stop Invasive Species Act, legislation to stop Asian carp from destroying the Great Lakes' ecosystem. The bill was signed into law by President Obama on July 6, 2012 as part of the transportation bill. Passing the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013 is another crucial step to restoring the health of our Great Lakes.
Today, Portman and Nelson were joined by original cosponsors Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Angus King (I-ME), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-Miss), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
GOGLSM announces its formation to fight for clean water at the GLSM.
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 trout@columbus.rr.com.
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 trout@columbus.rr.com.
Extreme Algae Blooms: The New Normal?
Record-breaking bloom in Lake Erie triggered by 'perfect storm' of events
Fish suffocated in the Lake Erie algae bloom of August 2011, near Pelee Island, Ontario.
April 1, 2013
A 2011 record-breaking algae bloom in Lake Erie was triggered by long-term agricultural practices coupled with extreme precipitation, followed by weak lake circulation and warm temperatures, scientists have discovered.
The researchers also predict that, unless agricultural policies change, the lake will continue to experience extreme blooms.
"The factors that led to this explosion of algal blooms are all related to humans and our interaction with the environment," says Bruce Hamilton, program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), which funded the research through its Water, Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Program.
WSC is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative.
"Population growth, changes in agricultural practices and climate change are all part of the equation," says Hamilton. "These findings show us where we need to focus our attention in the future."
Results of the research are published in this week's online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"The 'perfect storm' of weather events and agricultural practices that occurred in 2011 is unfortunately consistent with ongoing trends," says Anna Michalak, the paper's lead author and a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, located at Stanford University. "That means that more huge algal blooms can be expected in the future, unless a scientifically-guided management plan is implemented for the region."
Freshwater algal blooms may result when high amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen are added to the water, usually as runoff from fertilizer. These excess nutrients encourage unusual growth of algae and aquatic plants. When the plants and algae die, decomposers in the water that feed on them use up oxygen, which can drop to levels too low for aquatic life to thrive.
At first the Lake Erie algae were almost entirely Microcystis, an organism that produces a liver toxin and can cause skin irritation. The scientists combined sampling and satellite-based observations of the lake with computer simulations to track the bloom. It began in the lake's Western region in mid-July and covered an area of 230 square miles. At its peak in October, the bloom had expanded to more than 1,930 square miles. Its peak intensity was more than three times greater than any other bloom on record.
The researchers looked at numerous factors that could have contributed to the bloom, including land-use, agricultural practices, runoff, wind, temperature, precipitation and circulation. They found that three agriculture management practices in the area can lead to increased nutrient runoff: autumn fertilization, broadcast fertilization (uniform distribution of fertilizer over the whole cropped field), and reduced tillage. These practices have increased in the region over the last decade.
Conditions in the fall of 2010 were ideal for harvesting and preparing fields and increasing fertilizer application for spring planting. A series of strong storms the following spring caused large amounts of phosphorus to flow into the lake. In May alone rainfall was more than 6.5 inches, a level more than 75 percent above the prior 20-year average for the month. This onslaught resulted in one of the largest spring phosphorus loads since 1975, when intensive monitoring began. Lake Erie was not unusually calm and warm before the bloom. But after the bloom began, warmer water and weaker currents encouraged a more productive bloom than in prior years.
The longer period of weak circulation and warmer temperatures helped incubate the bloom and allowed the Microcystis to remain near the top of the water column. That had the added effect of preventing the nutrients from being flushed out of the system. The researchers' data did not support the idea that land-use and crop choices contributed to the increase in nutrient run-off that fueled the bloom.
To determine the likelihood of future mega-blooms, the scientists analyzed climate model simulations under both past and future climate conditions. They found that severe storms become more likely in the future, with a 50 percent increase in the frequency of precipitation events of .80 inch or more of rain. Stronger storms, with greater than 1.2 inch of rain, could be twice as frequent. The researchers believe that future calm conditions with weak lake circulation after a bloom's onset are also likely to continue, since current trends show decreasing wind speeds across the United States. That would result in longer-lasting blooms and decreased mixing in the water column.
"Although future strong storms may be part of the new normal," says Michalak, "better management practices could be implemented to provide some relief to the problem."
The research was also supported by the NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research and the Lake Erie Protection Fund.
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Tina McDowell, Carnegie Institution for Science (202) 939-1120tmcdowell@carnegiescience.edu
Related Websites
How Is Earth's Water System Linked With Land Use, Climate Change and Ecosystems?:http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125434&org=NSF&from=news
NSF Awards Grants for Study of Water Sustainability and Climate: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117819
Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability NSF-Wide Investment (SEES): http://www.nsf.gov/sees/
NSF "Discoveries in Sustainability" Publication:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/disco12001/disco12001.pdf
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Get News Updates by Email
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics:http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
Record-breaking bloom in Lake Erie triggered by 'perfect storm' of events
Fish suffocated in the Lake Erie algae bloom of August 2011, near Pelee Island, Ontario.
April 1, 2013
A 2011 record-breaking algae bloom in Lake Erie was triggered by long-term agricultural practices coupled with extreme precipitation, followed by weak lake circulation and warm temperatures, scientists have discovered.
The researchers also predict that, unless agricultural policies change, the lake will continue to experience extreme blooms.
"The factors that led to this explosion of algal blooms are all related to humans and our interaction with the environment," says Bruce Hamilton, program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), which funded the research through its Water, Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Program.
WSC is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative.
"Population growth, changes in agricultural practices and climate change are all part of the equation," says Hamilton. "These findings show us where we need to focus our attention in the future."
Results of the research are published in this week's online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"The 'perfect storm' of weather events and agricultural practices that occurred in 2011 is unfortunately consistent with ongoing trends," says Anna Michalak, the paper's lead author and a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, located at Stanford University. "That means that more huge algal blooms can be expected in the future, unless a scientifically-guided management plan is implemented for the region."
Freshwater algal blooms may result when high amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen are added to the water, usually as runoff from fertilizer. These excess nutrients encourage unusual growth of algae and aquatic plants. When the plants and algae die, decomposers in the water that feed on them use up oxygen, which can drop to levels too low for aquatic life to thrive.
At first the Lake Erie algae were almost entirely Microcystis, an organism that produces a liver toxin and can cause skin irritation. The scientists combined sampling and satellite-based observations of the lake with computer simulations to track the bloom. It began in the lake's Western region in mid-July and covered an area of 230 square miles. At its peak in October, the bloom had expanded to more than 1,930 square miles. Its peak intensity was more than three times greater than any other bloom on record.
The researchers looked at numerous factors that could have contributed to the bloom, including land-use, agricultural practices, runoff, wind, temperature, precipitation and circulation. They found that three agriculture management practices in the area can lead to increased nutrient runoff: autumn fertilization, broadcast fertilization (uniform distribution of fertilizer over the whole cropped field), and reduced tillage. These practices have increased in the region over the last decade.
Conditions in the fall of 2010 were ideal for harvesting and preparing fields and increasing fertilizer application for spring planting. A series of strong storms the following spring caused large amounts of phosphorus to flow into the lake. In May alone rainfall was more than 6.5 inches, a level more than 75 percent above the prior 20-year average for the month. This onslaught resulted in one of the largest spring phosphorus loads since 1975, when intensive monitoring began. Lake Erie was not unusually calm and warm before the bloom. But after the bloom began, warmer water and weaker currents encouraged a more productive bloom than in prior years.
The longer period of weak circulation and warmer temperatures helped incubate the bloom and allowed the Microcystis to remain near the top of the water column. That had the added effect of preventing the nutrients from being flushed out of the system. The researchers' data did not support the idea that land-use and crop choices contributed to the increase in nutrient run-off that fueled the bloom.
To determine the likelihood of future mega-blooms, the scientists analyzed climate model simulations under both past and future climate conditions. They found that severe storms become more likely in the future, with a 50 percent increase in the frequency of precipitation events of .80 inch or more of rain. Stronger storms, with greater than 1.2 inch of rain, could be twice as frequent. The researchers believe that future calm conditions with weak lake circulation after a bloom's onset are also likely to continue, since current trends show decreasing wind speeds across the United States. That would result in longer-lasting blooms and decreased mixing in the water column.
"Although future strong storms may be part of the new normal," says Michalak, "better management practices could be implemented to provide some relief to the problem."
The research was also supported by the NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research and the Lake Erie Protection Fund.
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Tina McDowell, Carnegie Institution for Science (202) 939-1120tmcdowell@carnegiescience.edu
Related Websites
How Is Earth's Water System Linked With Land Use, Climate Change and Ecosystems?:http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125434&org=NSF&from=news
NSF Awards Grants for Study of Water Sustainability and Climate: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117819
Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability NSF-Wide Investment (SEES): http://www.nsf.gov/sees/
NSF "Discoveries in Sustainability" Publication:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/disco12001/disco12001.pdf
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget is $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards nearly $420 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Get News Updates by Email
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: http://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: http://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics:http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
Ohio’s Ag Water Quality Recommendations ‘Officially’ Announced
by Chris Kick
Thursday, March 15, 2012
COLUMBUS — Directors for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture and Ohio EPA formally announced their recommendations for water quality improvement during a media conference call March 15.
The recommendations follow six months of discussions by Ohio’s ag water quality work group, and a month and a half of preparing the final report for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The work group consisted of 125 farmers and farm-related professionals, who made final recommendations to the directors Jan. 23 at the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The recommendations are aimed at improving the amount of agricultural nutrients reaching Ohio’s water bodies and causing environmental havoc — especially the blooming of harmful algae.
Water and agriculture
Officials hope to maintain and restore the health of Ohio lakes, while “keeping ag and ag production at its highest levels,” said Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels.
Ag fertilizers and livestock manure are known contributors to the issue — along with municipal waste through failed sewer systems, landscaping and storm runoff.
“It’s important to make sure the recommendations are measured to ag’s very small portion of the algal blooms in both the Western Basin and Grand Lake St. Mary’s,” Daniels said.
Officials declined to give an estimated percentage of how much of the problem may be caused by agriculture.
“When we start looking at who’s bigger, who’s smaller, then we’re not going to get anywhere,” said James Zehringer, ODNR director. “We’re going to work together and try to do agriculture’s role.”
In a joint statement following today’s press conference, the Ohio Soybean Association and Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association said they “commend Ohio Gov. John Kasich for his cabinet’s efforts to address the quality of Ohio’s waterways and embrace the opportunity to continue to work to protect Ohio’s natural resources.”
Ohio’s commodity leaders have pledged $500,000 toward a related water quality research project spearheaded by Ohio State University.
The recommendations are being reviewed by Kasich’s policy staff. Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols told Farm and Dairy on March 1 that water quality is “of paramount concern to the governor.”
Nichols said it was premature to give a date for when action on the recommendations could come, but said they’re being closely reviewed.
A second Lake Erie water quality discussion will be held tomorrow with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Democratic Senators Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown. They will be joined by Democratic Representatives John Dingell and Marcy Kaptur at the Cabela’s store in Dundee, Mich.
According to statement sent to media, officials will discuss “additional support to protect the Western Lake Erie Basin and benefit hunting, fishing and recreation by boosting farmers’ conservation efforts.”
Here are the basic recommendations outlined today:
• Promote the voluntary “4R Nutrient Stewardship,” which encourages farmers to use the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and with the right placement;
• Utilize a three-tiered, statewide structure for prioritizing the implementation of any recommendations, based upon the condition of any given watershed in Ohio;
• Coordinate research and align funding streams;
• Coordinate programmatic funding within OEPA and ODNR;
• Coordinate communication and outreach effort to farmers;
• Develop a voluntary, statewide “Certified Nutrient Stewardship Program” for farmers (ODNR);
• Provide ODA authority to better train Ohio farmers about applying commercial fertilizer;
• Expand the regulatory authority of ODA to collect more specific geographical data on where fertilizer sales are currently made;
• Clarify the authority of ODNR to aggressively pursue habitual bad actors; and
• Expand ODNR’s authority to development Nutrient Management Plans.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
COLUMBUS — Directors for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture and Ohio EPA formally announced their recommendations for water quality improvement during a media conference call March 15.
The recommendations follow six months of discussions by Ohio’s ag water quality work group, and a month and a half of preparing the final report for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The work group consisted of 125 farmers and farm-related professionals, who made final recommendations to the directors Jan. 23 at the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The recommendations are aimed at improving the amount of agricultural nutrients reaching Ohio’s water bodies and causing environmental havoc — especially the blooming of harmful algae.
Water and agriculture
Officials hope to maintain and restore the health of Ohio lakes, while “keeping ag and ag production at its highest levels,” said Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels.
Ag fertilizers and livestock manure are known contributors to the issue — along with municipal waste through failed sewer systems, landscaping and storm runoff.
“It’s important to make sure the recommendations are measured to ag’s very small portion of the algal blooms in both the Western Basin and Grand Lake St. Mary’s,” Daniels said.
Officials declined to give an estimated percentage of how much of the problem may be caused by agriculture.
“When we start looking at who’s bigger, who’s smaller, then we’re not going to get anywhere,” said James Zehringer, ODNR director. “We’re going to work together and try to do agriculture’s role.”
In a joint statement following today’s press conference, the Ohio Soybean Association and Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association said they “commend Ohio Gov. John Kasich for his cabinet’s efforts to address the quality of Ohio’s waterways and embrace the opportunity to continue to work to protect Ohio’s natural resources.”
Ohio’s commodity leaders have pledged $500,000 toward a related water quality research project spearheaded by Ohio State University.
The recommendations are being reviewed by Kasich’s policy staff. Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols told Farm and Dairy on March 1 that water quality is “of paramount concern to the governor.”
Nichols said it was premature to give a date for when action on the recommendations could come, but said they’re being closely reviewed.
A second Lake Erie water quality discussion will be held tomorrow with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Democratic Senators Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown. They will be joined by Democratic Representatives John Dingell and Marcy Kaptur at the Cabela’s store in Dundee, Mich.
According to statement sent to media, officials will discuss “additional support to protect the Western Lake Erie Basin and benefit hunting, fishing and recreation by boosting farmers’ conservation efforts.”
Here are the basic recommendations outlined today:
• Promote the voluntary “4R Nutrient Stewardship,” which encourages farmers to use the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and with the right placement;
• Utilize a three-tiered, statewide structure for prioritizing the implementation of any recommendations, based upon the condition of any given watershed in Ohio;
• Coordinate research and align funding streams;
• Coordinate programmatic funding within OEPA and ODNR;
• Coordinate communication and outreach effort to farmers;
• Develop a voluntary, statewide “Certified Nutrient Stewardship Program” for farmers (ODNR);
• Provide ODA authority to better train Ohio farmers about applying commercial fertilizer;
• Expand the regulatory authority of ODA to collect more specific geographical data on where fertilizer sales are currently made;
• Clarify the authority of ODNR to aggressively pursue habitual bad actors; and
• Expand ODNR’s authority to development Nutrient Management Plans.
The Price of Cheap Meat: A Lake Dies in Ohio
Posted: 07/06/10
Grand Lake St. Marys -- Ohio's largest inland body of water and a treasured recreational area -- is dying. And if you barbecued some supermarket pork over the holiday weekend, you helped contribute to this disaster, however indirectly.
The lake's 13,000 acres of water surrounded by parkland, cabins and campgrounds, is one of the leading summertime attractions in the area, which brings in some $216 million in tourist spending each year, $160 million directly from the lake, (not to mention 2,600 jobs). Now, many visitors are shunning the place like an oil-stained Alabama beach. Swimming and waterskiing are discouraged, and even boating might be a health risk.
The main problem is phosphorous and other nutrients, mostly from farms, including the 15 or so animal factory farms in the lake's watershed, and nutrients from the megatons of fertilizer applied on taxpayer-subsidized corn and soybean fields. Those products then become cheap feed that keeps the factory farms humming, Big Box prices low, and summertime barbequers happy.
Factory farms, in addition to their insatiable demand for subsidized feed, also generate thousands of tons of animal waste each year, far more than the surrounding land can absorb. The manure -- in this part of Ohio, most factory farms are either pork, or "layer" (egg) operations -- is sometimes liquefied and sprayed from giant sprinklers that spew brownish-yellow water onto cropland which -- too often -- runs off into streams and ditches that feed into rivers and lakes, including Grand Lake St. Marys.
The Ohio Farm Bureau insists that most of the farms in the area are "family farms," which is true -- the majority of farms in the area not factory farms, and do no generate anywhere near the amount of nutrients that industrialized operations create. And besides, even massive factory farms (officially known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs) are usually owned by families, although they don't typically own the animals. They contract out to large corporations, sharecropper style, to raise them. The contractor is left with the problem of disposing of so much manure, not the company.
For years, nutrient levels in Grand Lake St. Marys have been rising. But only in the last three years have they gotten dangerously high, fueling algae blooms that strangulate fish, smother the water in a putrid green-and-turquoise foam, clog boat engines, foul the air with rancid odors, and emit toxins that can cause permanent health problems in people.
"We have a crisis situation," Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) said in a letter Friday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and, tellingly, USDA Secretary Tom Vislack. "The economic viability of this region is ultimately linked to the health of this natural resource. We have reached a tipping point where the degraded nature of the lake is causing significant loss to local businesses and the total livelihood of the region."
In April 2009, levels of a toxin called microcystins were found to be extremely elevated, and the state issued a warning for people to "minimize contact" and avoid ingestion of the lake water.
And just two weeks ago, "the lake water turned a dark green color and became covered in a thick blue green scum," Strickland said, adding that state testing has also detected the presence of harmful bacteria and their associated toxins, one that attacks the liver and another that causes nerve damage.
Strickland asked the Feds for immediate environmental and economic assistance and, given the EPA's aggressive stance against farm runoff since Obama took office, his SOS will likely get some attention.
It is not logical to blame most of this mess on smaller, more sustainably run farms where animals are not packed in by the hundreds or thousands, and where there's enough land to adequately absorb the waste, thus reducing the chance of nutrient runoff.
Besides, small farms have graced this area for generations on end, and the lake did not become a Petri dish for liver toxins until now. Something has changed, and that something -- in my opinion -- is factory farming and its excess manure. And local people know it.
Local residents "say stricter regulations are needed on large farms," the Associated Press reported, "limiting when they can apply manure to their fields and how close they can plant to streams."
When I was researching my book Animal Factory - The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment - I came across this same situation wherever CAFOs had invaded: the tidewater area of North Carolina, the mega-dairy region of Yakima Valley, WA, or the "poultry belt" of Arkansas (whose big chicken growers like Tyson have been sued by the Oklahoma Attorney General for allowing nutrients from poultry waste to cross the border and pollute lakes and rivers).
In each case, once pristine waters had been spoiled after the CAFOs showed up.
I also spent time in western and northwestern Ohio, where property and small business owners are growing increasingly alarmed by the number of CAFOs that have been moving into the area. And I witnessed the Maumee River, choked with agricultural nutrients, which empties into Lake Erie, site of a massive and growing "dead zone."
The lake was the color of cappuccino, and there were warning signs about dangerous bacteria in the water. And yet, families with small children were still splashing around in the murky, foamy liquid.
I wondered if they knew that factory farming upriver was contributing to this slow death of a great lake, and if they knew that their barbequed chicken, egg salad sandwiches and pork sausages were likely produced at factory farms that leach nutrients into waterways that belong to the public.
We all contribute to factory farming every time we reach for the cheapest meat, milk and eggs at the supermarket. That bacon you had for breakfast might have come from a CAFO in the Lake St. Marys area -- or else fed on discount corn grown within the watershed.
Even if you are a strict vegan, your tax dollars still go to sustain this unsustainable system. So unless you are out there actively lobbying to kill taxpayer subsidies in the Farm Bill, don't think you get completely off the hook, either.
Which brings us back to the devastated economy of Grand Lake St. Marys - already buffeted by post-industrial job losses - and its desperate and rightfully angry people.
I know this question will not make me popular around the lake, but I do wonder how many residents there enjoyed some nice, juicy, barbequed pork ribs on the Fourth of July that were on special down at the discount center.
Like I said, we are all responsible for factory farm pollution, even those who suffer most from its excesses.
David Kirby is author of "Animal Factory - The Looming Threat of Industrial Pork, Dairy and Poultry Operations to Humans and the Environment" (St. Martin's Press).
Grand Lake St. Marys -- Ohio's largest inland body of water and a treasured recreational area -- is dying. And if you barbecued some supermarket pork over the holiday weekend, you helped contribute to this disaster, however indirectly.
The lake's 13,000 acres of water surrounded by parkland, cabins and campgrounds, is one of the leading summertime attractions in the area, which brings in some $216 million in tourist spending each year, $160 million directly from the lake, (not to mention 2,600 jobs). Now, many visitors are shunning the place like an oil-stained Alabama beach. Swimming and waterskiing are discouraged, and even boating might be a health risk.
The main problem is phosphorous and other nutrients, mostly from farms, including the 15 or so animal factory farms in the lake's watershed, and nutrients from the megatons of fertilizer applied on taxpayer-subsidized corn and soybean fields. Those products then become cheap feed that keeps the factory farms humming, Big Box prices low, and summertime barbequers happy.
Factory farms, in addition to their insatiable demand for subsidized feed, also generate thousands of tons of animal waste each year, far more than the surrounding land can absorb. The manure -- in this part of Ohio, most factory farms are either pork, or "layer" (egg) operations -- is sometimes liquefied and sprayed from giant sprinklers that spew brownish-yellow water onto cropland which -- too often -- runs off into streams and ditches that feed into rivers and lakes, including Grand Lake St. Marys.
The Ohio Farm Bureau insists that most of the farms in the area are "family farms," which is true -- the majority of farms in the area not factory farms, and do no generate anywhere near the amount of nutrients that industrialized operations create. And besides, even massive factory farms (officially known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs) are usually owned by families, although they don't typically own the animals. They contract out to large corporations, sharecropper style, to raise them. The contractor is left with the problem of disposing of so much manure, not the company.
For years, nutrient levels in Grand Lake St. Marys have been rising. But only in the last three years have they gotten dangerously high, fueling algae blooms that strangulate fish, smother the water in a putrid green-and-turquoise foam, clog boat engines, foul the air with rancid odors, and emit toxins that can cause permanent health problems in people.
"We have a crisis situation," Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) said in a letter Friday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and, tellingly, USDA Secretary Tom Vislack. "The economic viability of this region is ultimately linked to the health of this natural resource. We have reached a tipping point where the degraded nature of the lake is causing significant loss to local businesses and the total livelihood of the region."
In April 2009, levels of a toxin called microcystins were found to be extremely elevated, and the state issued a warning for people to "minimize contact" and avoid ingestion of the lake water.
And just two weeks ago, "the lake water turned a dark green color and became covered in a thick blue green scum," Strickland said, adding that state testing has also detected the presence of harmful bacteria and their associated toxins, one that attacks the liver and another that causes nerve damage.
Strickland asked the Feds for immediate environmental and economic assistance and, given the EPA's aggressive stance against farm runoff since Obama took office, his SOS will likely get some attention.
It is not logical to blame most of this mess on smaller, more sustainably run farms where animals are not packed in by the hundreds or thousands, and where there's enough land to adequately absorb the waste, thus reducing the chance of nutrient runoff.
Besides, small farms have graced this area for generations on end, and the lake did not become a Petri dish for liver toxins until now. Something has changed, and that something -- in my opinion -- is factory farming and its excess manure. And local people know it.
Local residents "say stricter regulations are needed on large farms," the Associated Press reported, "limiting when they can apply manure to their fields and how close they can plant to streams."
When I was researching my book Animal Factory - The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment - I came across this same situation wherever CAFOs had invaded: the tidewater area of North Carolina, the mega-dairy region of Yakima Valley, WA, or the "poultry belt" of Arkansas (whose big chicken growers like Tyson have been sued by the Oklahoma Attorney General for allowing nutrients from poultry waste to cross the border and pollute lakes and rivers).
In each case, once pristine waters had been spoiled after the CAFOs showed up.
I also spent time in western and northwestern Ohio, where property and small business owners are growing increasingly alarmed by the number of CAFOs that have been moving into the area. And I witnessed the Maumee River, choked with agricultural nutrients, which empties into Lake Erie, site of a massive and growing "dead zone."
The lake was the color of cappuccino, and there were warning signs about dangerous bacteria in the water. And yet, families with small children were still splashing around in the murky, foamy liquid.
I wondered if they knew that factory farming upriver was contributing to this slow death of a great lake, and if they knew that their barbequed chicken, egg salad sandwiches and pork sausages were likely produced at factory farms that leach nutrients into waterways that belong to the public.
We all contribute to factory farming every time we reach for the cheapest meat, milk and eggs at the supermarket. That bacon you had for breakfast might have come from a CAFO in the Lake St. Marys area -- or else fed on discount corn grown within the watershed.
Even if you are a strict vegan, your tax dollars still go to sustain this unsustainable system. So unless you are out there actively lobbying to kill taxpayer subsidies in the Farm Bill, don't think you get completely off the hook, either.
Which brings us back to the devastated economy of Grand Lake St. Marys - already buffeted by post-industrial job losses - and its desperate and rightfully angry people.
I know this question will not make me popular around the lake, but I do wonder how many residents there enjoyed some nice, juicy, barbequed pork ribs on the Fourth of July that were on special down at the discount center.
Like I said, we are all responsible for factory farm pollution, even those who suffer most from its excesses.
David Kirby is author of "Animal Factory - The Looming Threat of Industrial Pork, Dairy and Poultry Operations to Humans and the Environment" (St. Martin's Press).