Toledo Mom Fights for Clean Drinking Water for Her Own, All Children

This article by Josh McCormack appeared in Salud America! on May 23rd, 2019.

Crystal Jankowski ran the faucet in her hospital room for 12 hours straight the day she gave birth — all in hopes that the tap water would come out clean for Amelia, her newborn girl.

Just days before her delivery in August 2014, the city of Toledo, Ohio (8.3% Latino) told residents not to drink the municipal water. High levels of health-threatening toxins contaminated the public water supply sourced from Lake Erie.

Jankowski, a Toledo-native, wanted to do something for her two children and all kids.

So, she became an organizer for Toledoans for Safe Water (TSW), a group with an idea for a controversial Lake Erie Bill of Rights to enable residents to sue lake polluters.

“When you fight for clean water you are fighting for people of the reservations, you’re fighting for families on military bases, you’re fighting for Flint and Toledo, you’re fighting for animals, and for the world around you,” Jankowski said. “Fighting for a healthy environment is one of the things that helps the most people.”

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