LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Conference would clean Toledo’s image

8/24/2014

We commend you for your Aug. 6 editorial “Progress, not evasion.” Seeking answers on a complex and historic matter is not easy.

Water from the Toledo region has not been clean for a long time. We remember when former Lucas County Commissioner Ned Skeldon went swimming across the Maumee River in downtown Toledo in the 1960s, attempting to prove that we had cleaned up our beloved river.

That was a half-century ago, and unfortunately we have not been nearly as aggressive since. Now is the time to act.

Toledo made national news when our water became undrinkable. But we can turn the negative news into positive national and perhaps international news by hosting a multiday conference this fall.

We could invite talented and dedicated scientists, environmental engineers, and conservationists to meet and debate how we clean up our Great Lakes and other freshwater bodies in the United States and world.

Such a conference would benefit our waterways, drinking water, and citizens. We are offering our help in organizing such an endeavor.

FRANK SZOLLOSI

Manager

Regional Outreach Campaigns

National Wildlife Federation

Ann Arbor

CARTY FINKBEINER

Townley Road