Toledo releases 72-page report on water crisis
8/4/2014City of Toledo officials today released a 72-page report looking at the water advisory that impacted 500,000 people over the weekend.
The report, which followed a public records request by The Blade, said that a number of factors contributed to a microcystin finding. Chemists at the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant said they found a microcystin reading early evening Friday, and that finding prompted leaders to notify the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. An advisory was issued at 2 a.m. Saturday.
CITY OF TOLEDO PRELIMINARY STUDY ON WATER CRISIS
A troubling issue was that Collins Park chemists found inconsistencies in the data. The report said the city then embarked on a three-day mission to verfiy the results by reaching out to independent analysts, the water treatment plant in Oregon, and a variety of laboratories.
The level in two samples of water taken by city employees was found to be approaching 1.0 ppb in one of them and just over 1.0 ppb in the other, Mayor D. Michael Collins said during a news conference earlier today. While there is no state or federally mandated limit for microcystin, the potentially deadly toxin in a harmful form of blue-green algae known as microcystis, the World Health Organization has recommended that the drinking water concentration be kept at 1.0 ppb or less.
When he announced this morning that the city was lifting the advisory, Mr. Collins described the city‘s water as safe. He also said he didn’t want to take any chances with residents‘ health.