Politicans and environmentalists warn of Lake Erie algal blooms

An annual explosion of toxic algae threatens to aggravate the Ohio communities along Lake Erie again this summer.

Keeping Western New York from suffering the same fate brought Sen. Charles E. Schumer and local environmental leaders to the Erie Basin Marina today as they called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture to intervene and regulate the suspected causes of the toxic blooms.

The harmful algal blooms cyanobacteria that harm the skin, liver and nervous system in humans have inundated western Ohio and southern Ontario in recent years, closing beaches, shuttering water treatment plants and harming pets and wildlife.

Lake Erie is one of Western New Yorks greatest resources for tourism, recreation and for healthy drinking water, Schumer said. But toxic algae blooms threaten to greatly undercut the value of this resource.

The senator called on the EPA to regulate cyanotoxins and provide help and guidance to local water treatment plants in testing and filtering the toxin from drinking water. Thats something both Canada and the European union have already done.

Schumer also urged the Department of Agriculture to designate the Great Lakes as a Critical Conservation Area, a new designation in the 2014 Farm Bill. That would provide farms federal funding and assistance to help them prevent runoff from their farms that scientists cite as the top contributor of phosphorous and, with it, algal blooms to Lake Erie.

If we do these two things, we can get a handle on this problem before it becomes a nightmare, Schumer said.

Jill Jedlicka, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, said, We dont want whats happing in Ohio and Michigan to happen in New York State.

The toxic pea-green substance, which has largely been a problem in the lakes shallow western basin from Toledo to the Lake Erie islands in Ohio, hasnt landed on New York shores yet. But it cropped up for the first time last year in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pa.

Although its too early in the season to gauge how bad the algal blooms could be this summer, scientists say historical data shows that when precipitation is high during the spring months, it usually leads to more algae in the lake later in the year. The chief culprit, scientists say, is agricultural runoff from the 4 million acres of the Maumee River watershed straddling Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

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Politicans and environmentalists warn of Lake Erie algal blooms