Ohio Gov. Kasich arrives to talk water crisis in downtown Toledo

Ohio Gov. John Kasich arrives with staff for a closed door meeting with Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins and other dignitaries to address the water emergency in the city.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is meeting in Toledo with state and local officials to discuss the region’‍s ongoing water crisis. 

Mayor Collins is there, as well as U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo). A representative for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) is also present. The group of officials arrived downtown at the Lucas County Emergency Services Building to discuss the do not drink water advisory that has left 500,000 people without drinkable tap water for the past two days.

Before the meeting, lawmakers praised the residents of Toledo and surrounding affected areas for their calm reactions to the water crisis. Miss Kaptur called the community response “awesome.” 

“The people of this community have done a phenomenal job,” Gov. Kasich told reporters before entering the building. “We’‍ll get through this.” 

A representative of Miss Kaptur said that officials at the meeting were waiting on test results from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati. Several previous tests, including one conducted in Michigan, indicated that the toxins in the city’‍s water supply were below dangerous levels. But without the results of the official EPA test, officials were hesitant to make definitive statements on the quality of the water or future of the situation.

The results from the EPA won’‍t be available until mid-afternoon today, the representative said.