This letter to the editor by Carolyn Harding appeared in The Toledo Blade, February 3rd, 2019.

I encourage Toledo citizens to vote for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) to give our state’s national treasure for fresh water, tourism, water sports, and livelihoods, the right to exist and flourish.

LEBOR will give all Toledo citizens, not just politicians, corporate CEOs, and lake property owners, the right to protect your drinking water and the livelihoods of Toledo citizens. Your vote for LEBOR on Feb. 26 will protect the lake from corporate harms that state and federal laws have blocked Toledo citizens from enacting.

Sixty years ago my grandparents bought a lake home at Lakeside, Ohio. We experienced the toxic water of the ‘60’s and enjoyed a healthier lake in the ‘80’s, but the toxic blue-green algae phenomenon is alarming.

Blue green algae is caused by excessive nutrients from: factory farm manure, fertilizers/​herbicides/​pesticides, glyphosate from Roundup-Ready crops, degraded sewage treatment plants, and elevated rainfall, causing this polluting effluence to wash into the lake.

I’ve testified at the State House, attended Lake Erie study commissions, and witnessed regulations proposed, passed, and ignored. It’s time for your vote for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Click HERE to read this letter at The Blade.