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State Representative Jim Buchy
Recent Events
in Western Ohio Highlight the Importance of a Federal Bill
Grand Lake St. Marys is a landmark of the 84th House District,
promoting jobs in the area and offering a place that families can visit
to fish, boat, and enjoy time together.
Being residents of western Ohio and the Grand Lake St. Marys area, we
are all familiar with Algal Blooms, and it is something we have been
dealing with for decades. We are also aware of the successful
remediation of Indian Lake, which has seen significant improvement in
water quality. At Grand Lake St. Marys efforts continue to
remediate the problems in the lake. The recent situation with the
Toledo water system reminds us why reduction of phosphorous loading in
our waterways is, and should continue to be, a focus of Ohio
agriculture.
Just as the city of Toledo gets its water from the Maumee Bay/western
basin of Lake Erie, the city of Celina in Mercer County receives water
from Grand Lake St. Marys. The harmful toxin that caused problems
in Toledo’s water supply, microcystin, is also present in Grand Lake
St. Marys and has been an issue for the past four years, yet the fine
engineering work of the Celina water purification system to this point
has kept that vital water supply available to the public.
As an agricultural community we know the spotlight is on us, and I am
proud of the legislation we have passed in Columbus to help Ohio
agriculture continue the efforts of reducing phosphorous loading. These
efforts need to continue so that we have cleaner waterways in
Ohio. On that same note, there is a lot of information now
available that indicates the city of Toledo shares in this blame and
they need to take steps to reorganize their water purification and
sewage treatment plans.
The federal, state and local governments are all engaged to address
these concerns. Recently Senator Portman led an effort to have a
bill passed that will increase funding for research of Harmful Algal
Blooms. I share in the hope that the research will provide new
solutions to this problem and help with our remediation efforts at
Grand Lake St. Marys.
This new law is the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and
Control Amendments Act of 2013. It was introduced by U.S. Senators Rob
Portman of Ohio and Bill Nelson of Florida.
Basically the bill allocates money to freshwater locations around the
country for the research and prevention of hypoxia. It specifies that
$20.5 million will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration over a span of four years. It also develops
Comprehensive Research and Action Plans to identify and then prioritize
the regions that need research the most. I would encourage the federal
government to spend some of those research dollars in western Ohio.
Senator Portman understands the issues affecting our bodies of water in
western Ohio and I appreciate his efforts to bring federal attention to
this issue. The research dollars can make an impact in our
area. This is a time when farmers are under the microscope and
agriculture needs to continue the important efforts of reducing
phosphorous loading. At the same time we need our urban areas to do the
same with their sewage treatment plants and improve their water
purification systems. A lot of questions remain for the city of
Toledo.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchyAugust2014.
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