If attendance at the University of Toledo college of law’s 14th annual Great Lakes Water Conference is any indication, interest hasn’t waned in the algae-induced Toledo water crisis that left nearly 500,000 metro residents without safe tap water the first weekend of August.
The seminar, now one of the more popular for attorneys and would-be attorneys studying the complexities of water law, drew about 350 people to an auditorium with only 290 seats.
Although the event has steadily drawn more people every year, this one was the first since the once-unthinkable crisis was played out in the water-rich Great Lakes region three months ago. More Toledo and Lucas County officials than normal attended, and unlike past years, when people would start leaving after lunch, nearly everyone hung around this time, probably because the discussion about the water crisis was the last panel of the day.
No major revelations were made, although one of the panelists, Tom Bridgeman, UT’s chief algae researcher at its Lake Erie Center in Oregon, said he is intrigued by data that shows algal blooms for both 2013 and 2014 were larger than scientists would have expected, based on how much phosphorus entered Lake Erie and its tributaries then.
“At least for the last two years, the blooms are getting bigger than the amount of phosphorus going into the lake,” Mr. Bridgeman said.
He said it’s possible invasive quagga mussels may have teamed up with their more infamous biological cousin, zebra mussels, to exacerbate the effects of farm runoff and sewage spills to make more algae grow than if the problem was just phosphorus alone. A recent study produced by the University of Michigan and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it appears invasive mussels and climate change are among two of many lesser-known problems exacerbating the algae problem.
Isabel Escobar, UT professor of chemical and environmental engineering, defended the basic design of Toledo’s 73-year-old Collins Park Water Treatment Plant, saying it’s a technologically sound structure despite the city’s failure to keep maintenance on schedule. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency had been issuing stern warnings to city officials about the plant’s status in the months leading up to the crisis, because of work city councilmen had postponed or never funded.
Ken Kilbert, UT law professor and associate dean for academic affairs, said Ohio law is adequate for sewage plants and other “point sources,” but weak for the agriculture industry and other “nonpoint sources.”
“It’s much more of a carrot than a stick approach,” he said.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.
First Published November 8, 2014, 5:00 a.m.
