A river to a major city is now so polluted that almost half a million people residents have been told not to drink their tap water. Sounds like China, right? Think Toledo, Ohio. While we have been following the rolling environmental disasters in China, we often forget about our own failure to protect the basic health of our citizens. Toledo is such an example. While newspapers have detailed how algae blooms are releasing toxins, they largely fail to state the likely reason or downplay it: phosphorous and nitrogen from farm fertilizer runoff.
Way back in the late 1970s, I worked at the Smithsonian Center for Environmental Research in Maryland where scientists were doing some of the early work on how such runoff was killing the Chesapeake Bay. It was and remains a touchy subject in Washington because of the agribusiness lobby.
In Toledo, over 400,000 people have been told to avoid swallowing the water. They were also told not to try to boil the water because that would increase the concentration of the microcystin toxin. The City of Toledo issued a warning that water “should not be consumed until an all clear is issued.”
Restaurants were asked not to use city water to even wash dishes.
The source of the water is Lake Erie, where phosphorous and nitrogen runoff has continued to pollute the waters.
Source: Inquirer
http://www.protectwoodcounty.org/research.php
Big Ag polluters.
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1994825,00.html Rick Perry declares war on the EPA. Wants refineries to be able to pour more toxins into the Gulf of Mexico.
http://malcontends.blogspot.com/2014/08/silence-from-wisconsin-pols-on-big-ags.html
Here are some Big Ag polluters in Wisconsin.
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/3/5963645/a-toxic-algae-bloom-has-left-400000-people-in-ohio-without-drinking “Both elected officials said that more needs to be done to reduce the toxins’ suspected cause: nitrogen and phosphorus in Lake Erie, which can come from runoff of overfertilized fields and lawns, from malfunctioning septic systems and from livestock pens.” And yes, the ag business along with all industries that burn fossil fuels do not want the EPA to have more control over the pollutants. As global warming increases water temperatures, more blooming algae will appear.
Annie, Which companies should the EPA have put out of business in Toledo?
I agree that EPA officials who w/held information should be fired but do you think giving the EPA more clout would accomplish this since they are the ones w/holding the information in the first place?
And fire EPA officials that don’t do their jobs.
Jill, laws that fine these polluting companies out of existence.
So Samantha, how would you go about getting all those bad things out of our food supply? An FPA? Educating the public is commendable, but it’s not enough, look at how Michelle Obama’s attempts at promoting healthy food has been received. Look at Bloomberg, conservatives especially don’t want anyone telling them what to eat.
Annie, How would giving the EPA more clout have helped the situation in Toledo? They lied to us. They did not even release information to Democratic Congresswoman, Kaptur, let alone the public. It seems to me that they had plenty of clout, enough to w/hold information that the public deserved to have.
Squeaky, I wrote you back and hope it will come through!
Darren, I had one disappeared. It didn’t even appear to post.
Annie, How would giving the EPA more clout have helped this situation in toledo. They lied to us. We could not even get numbers at the request of Democratic Congresswoman, Kaptur. They seem to have plenty of clout which they used to hide much needed information from the public.
Squeeky,
Thanks for explaining your stance. I feel the govt. simply wasts huge amounts of money on really dumb manure! For example, larger farmers get subsidies from the govt. to not grow crops or to engage in massive monoculture. As long as the govt.is handing out money, they could hand it out for farms to go organic. It would create jobs and be healthier for everyone. Would could even eat food that tastes like food (as you said!).
Jill, I released your comment at 1:55.
Darren, thank you for the retrieval again.
When are we going to learn?
Follow
Corporate America will always do what’s right… That’s why we don’t need the EPA or FDA or any government interference…..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-koch-brothers-petcoke-delays-20140725-story.html#page=1
Petcoke firm threatens lawsuit over city rules. Guess who owns it?
@jill
I think we need tough, sensible environmental regulations. I think the EPA, like the NSA, CIA, IRS, etc. goes overboard sometimes in the hands of zealots. The problem is because of all the partisan spinning and lying, you have a hard time trying to figure out whether the EPA is going overboard, or whether they are just goring somebody’s ox.
On agriculture, I think we need a lot more farms and farmers, on a lot more local basis. If we have to cut back on fertilizers to save our waters, so be it. Just make the schedule sensible. Heck, we got plenty of illegal farm labor in the country, not to mention people on unemployment. I would rather have some scraggly a$$ real tomatoes that taste good as opposed to the beautiful tomatoes that taste like cardboard.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Give the EPA more clout.
Nick, I don’t agree this is a partisan issue. It is trans-partisan. Regulatory capture happens under both major parties. It accounts for so much of the non-function in our govt. Financial regulations are controlled by the financial industry, healthy insurance give aways instead of health care, a toxic environment instead of clean energy. It’s all connected to entities which have bought off both major parties.
Jill, Both the EPA and ADA were signed by Republican Presidents. Both were well intended. Both were raped and sodomized by Dems making them out of control.