The GOP Congress with the help of appointed Congressman David Joyce (R-OH14)recently slashed the Great Lakes Restoration fund while Ohio Governor John Kasich was busy removing the Ohio EPA Director. Then, today, this happened: . Warning posted for Lake Erie toxin-tainted drinking water About 2,000 residents in Ottawa County have been told not to drink or cook with their tap water because it might be contaminated with a blue-green algae liver toxin. Carroll Township has become the first Ohio community where such a warning has been posted. State and local officials said routine tests of drinking water, taken last night, showed that some of the liver toxin in water taken from Lake Erie made it through the township’s treatment process. Henry Biggert, the Carroll Water and Sewer District superintendent, said the treatment plant has been able to filter out the liver toxin, called microcystin, in years past. “This time of season, typically the first of September, we’ve detected the microcystin in our source water,” he said, “but never at the level we’ve seen today.” Biggert said raw water taken in by the plant contained the toxin at a level of 17 parts per billion. Though treatment got rid of most of the toxin, the treated water still contained 3.56 parts per billion. The state-set drinking-water standard is 1 part per billion. Biggert said he’s confident that the treatment plant was shut down before any of the toxin-tainted water made it into water mains that lead to homes. He said the do-not-drink order is in place while the water lines are flushed with a clean source of water. “We want to err on the cautious side,” he said. Heidi Griesmer, an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman, said the state agency is telling people not to boil the water to try to clean it. Boiling concentrates the toxin instead of getting rid of it, she said. “You can’t use it any way that you can possibly ingest the water,” Griesmer said. Blue-green algae, also called cyanobacteria, are common in most lakes but grow thick feeding on phosphorus from fertilizers, manure and sewage that rains wash into streams. The algae can produce liver and nerve toxins that can sicken people and kill pets. Until today, the state has posted warnings for swimmers at state-park beaches whenever toxins were detected. Warnings are currently posted at Grand Lake St. Marys, Buckeye Lake, East Fork State Park and Maumee Bay State Park. - See more at: dispatch/content/stories/public/2013/09/06/tainted-
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 17:01:18 +0000