This editorial by the editorial board of The Toledo Blade appeared in said paper, December 4th, 2018.
— Toledoans for Safe Water gathered petition signatures and have fought a legal battle to get the issue before voters after years of frustration over inaction by state and federal environmental regulators.
They’ve tried to get the U.S. EPA and the Ohio EPA to take on the polluters who are dumping algae-feeding phosphorus into the Maumee River watershed. The phosphorus flows out to the open lake, where, each summer, it feeds blooms of toxic algae that threaten the city’s drinking water, the lake’s fishing and tourism industries, and the region’s economic development.
Many of the ballot measure’s backers were plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to force state and federal authorities to use the Clean Water Act to address the lake’s woes. This would mean setting strict limits on pollution and enforcing those with the force of federal law.
But after several years of favorable rulings, the federal judge overseeing the case dismissed it in October.
Even if the Lake Erie Bill of Rights’ backers succeed in getting the measure before voters and even if voters approve it, long legal battles lie ahead. The big agricultural concerns and others who would likely be targeted by any new pollution regulation will surely work hard to oppose the bill of rights in an election and in more court challenges.
But, the advocates ask, what else should they do?
The agencies that should be regulating pollution and protecting the environment are not making any progress in curbing pollution that is fueling the algae crisis. And suing to force them to do a better job has led to nought.
If you’re not ready to embrace giving legal standing to a lake — or a river, a mountain, an endangered species — then consider how many more summers of potentially toxic and undrinkable water you’re willing to endure. Ask yourself why such a drastic longshot strategy is even on the table.
Lake Erie desperately needs defenders. If a lake can’t stand up for itself, who else is doing it? Click HERE to read this letter at its original source.