TOLEDO, Ohio — The Board of the Lucas County Commissioners, along with Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, are set to announce a lawsuit Wednesday aimed at preventing pollution in Lake Erie.
The commissioners said the lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, "seeks to compel the U.S. EPA to comply with its obligations under the Clean Water Act and prevent harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie."
In a press release from the county commissioner's office, they said harmful algal blooms cover large portions of the lake every year, harming outdoor recreation, degrading fisheries, devaluing property and threatening access to clean, safe drinking water.
The Ohio EPA prepared a Total Maximum Daily Load — or a "pollution diet" — in response to a prior lawsuit from the board of commissioners for western Lake Erie, which was then approved by the U.S. EPA, according to the county commissioners office.
But Lucas County commissioners said "the TMDL will not remediate Lake Erie" and "fails to limit pollution caused by dissolved reactive phosphorus and does not meaningfully address the industrial livestock facilities responsible for polluting the watershed."
According to the county commissioners, the lawsuit, which will be filed in federal court, will ask the court to set aside the U.S. EPA's approval of the TMDL and prepare a new one that will comply with the Clean Water Act.
The announcement of the lawsuit will take place Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
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