A Disaster Waiting To Happen In Lake Erie

[Towntalk]

Lake Erie water-use bill draws foes, even within GOP
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/05/lake-erie-water-use-bill-draws-foes-within-gop.html?sid=101

Ohio Sen. Tom Patton says he mistakenly voted for Lake Erie water use bill
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/07/sen_patton_says_he_mistakenly.html

[Towntalk]

Dennis, as I've said before, it's going to have to take the federal government to step in and quash this scheme, all that the Green Party or the other environmental groups can do is file a federal case against the plan, getting the U. S. EPA; the State Department and the Justice Department involved since it involves international treaties with Canada.

Is the Green Party ready to take this step?

Simply talking about it isn't going to get the job done. You can talk till you're blue in the face and the scheme's proponents are going to laugh in your face and do what they want to do, but if they are faced with the full weight of the federal government on their backs they'll have no choice but to back down.

[irishbobcat]

From The Editorial Board of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

If Gov. John Kasich signs Substitute House Bill 231 into law he could unleash a blooming disaster on Lake Erie.

Toxic blue-green algae already poses a significant threat to Ohioans' health, drinking water and $10 billion-a-year tourism industry. Scientists refer to the environmental eyesore as cyanobacteria. It is an apocalyptic shade of green and smells as gross as it looks. It produces a toxin, microcystin, that is harmful to humans and animals. It blooms bigger and earlier each year, fed by phosphorus that pours into the shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes from farms.

Substitute House Bill 231 would allow industry to withdraw massive amounts of water -- more than neighboring Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario allow. It violates the spirit and possibly the letter of the 2008 Great Lakes Compact -- no surprise since one of its sponsors, Sen. Tim Grendell of Chesterland, worked tirelessly to torpedo that pact. (Its other sponsor, Rep. Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon in Northwest Ohio, heads a bottling company.)

Less water in the lake means more concentrated levels of phosphorus, which means more blue-green algae.

Kill the bill, Gov. Kasich.