On the recordAugust 3, 2015
I have come back to the floor again this afternoon to plead with my colleagues to pass legislation that deals with the toxic algal blooms that affect many of our States, including my State of Ohio. It turns out this is the 1-year anniversary of the water crisis that occurred in Toledo, OH. I see my colleague from Ohio is now on the floor also. He will remember this well. But it was a year ago when we found that there were toxic algal blooms around the intake valve in Toledo, OH, making the water unsuitable. There was an advisory sent out to 500,000 people that said: Do not drink the water. You can imagine the chaos that occurred. You can imagine how difficult this was for the people who live in the Toledo area, who rely on this water. By the way, there are about 3 million Ohioans who rely on Lake Erie water and more than twice that many around the country and in other States, such as Michigan. This is a critical issue. Last week it turned out that there were algal blooms that were moving within a few miles of this same intake valve--the same kind of blue-green toxic algal blooms. I was on the lake the weekend before last to see some of this. Within a couple of days, the city of Toledo changed the city's water quality status from ``clear'' to ``watch.'' We are on a ``watch'' status right now because of the amounts of toxins that have drifted closer to the intake valve. We have a problem right now.…
