A deeper dive into Lake Erie’s pea-green soup

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Karen Schaefer, an independent public radio journalist based in Ohio who has been covering algae blooms in Lake Erie for years, reported on the recent Toledo water crisis for Great Lakes Echo.

Here she gives deeper background on the development of the threat posed by algae and what may lie ahead.

Additional stories here.

This report first appeared on WKAR’s Current State public affairs program and is produced as a partnership with Great Lakes Echo.

 

3 thoughts on “A deeper dive into Lake Erie’s pea-green soup

  1. Pingback: Ask the Author and S'Mores - Laura VanArendonk Baugh

  2. Dawn is absolutely right and, adding insult to injury, Ohio’s legislation that was ostensibly created to deal with algae issues, had CAFO’s impacts categorically removed. It causes one to wonder what the Ohio legislature and governor were thinking – or whose pockets they happened to be in.

    To be fair, Ohio is not alone – even if it is among the worst offenders. Agribusiness should try to learn from the industries that ignored their own impacts on the Cuyahoga River until after it caught fire several times. Some proactive measures would go a long way.

    The pervasive “head in the sand” position of those charged with proper regulation and management is tragic.

  3. It is hard to believe that pollution from “leaking septic tanks” could hold a candle to the amount of pollution emitted and spilled into our canals, rivers, and eventually our lakes from huge confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Let’s be honest about the “fertilizer” that is causing the problems in our rivers and lakes. We need better regulations of how the millions (billions?) of gallons of animal waste are being applied to land and leaching into our waterways. Some CAFOs create as much animal waste as a small city, but they do not have water purifying plants. The liquid manure is spread on small parcels of land and leaches into our water. Until we have better regulation and monitoring of CAFOs, we will continue to have problems with algae in our rivers and lakes.

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