Residents in Toledo, Ohio, just won a major victory for clean water.
This article by Valerie Vande Panne appeared on Salon, March 7th, 2019. This article was produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
On February 26, voters in Toledo, Ohio, passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights in a special election. It grants the right of Lake Erie “to be healthy and free from pollution that today is killing the Lake and depriving surrounding communities of safe water.”
In 2014, the western basin of Lake Erie experienced extreme toxic algae blooms that contaminated the drinking water of nearly half a million people in the region, sometimes causing citizens of the Midwestern city of Toledo to go days without fresh water. The algae blooms are attributed to nutrient runoff in agriculture and sewage.
Of course, big agriculture is permitted to use nutrients. Yet even with regulations and permits, the harmful effects of the practice left residents unable to drink, bathe, or even wash clothes with tap water for days.
Markie Miller, an organizer with Toledoans for Safe Water, tells us she thought, “Something’s not working.”
In August of 2018, Toledoans for Safe Water turned in petitions to put a community rights-based initiative on the ballot, with over 10,000 signatures. After a months-long legal battle, the initiative made it to the ballot for February’s special election. It passed with a whopping 61 percent to 39 percent of the vote. MORE…