Kasich officials say farmers were included in lake discussions

SANDUSKY — Criticism that Gov. John Kasich ignored the concerns of farmers when he sought to take action on harmful algal blooms is inaccurate, two spokesmen for Kasich's administration told the Register.The administration met three times with farm leaders since last fall and found they weren't interested in taking serious action, said Heidi Griesmer, a spokeswoman for Ohio EPA director Craig Butler.On July 11, Kasich issued an executive order imposing new regulations on farmers in eight watersheds in northwest Ohio that are blamed for putting a lot of phosphorus into Lake Erie.The governor's order seeks to impose rules for the handling and use of fertilizer and manure, and require farmers to have, and carry out, management plans. Carrying out the order stalled, at least for now, when the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission refused to take immediate action, opting instead for a study that likely will take months.The Ohio Farm Bureau complained the governor's process for carrying out the order wasn't "transparent and inclusive" and that a more "deliberative" process is needed.Griesmer called the Register after one recent article and took issue with the claim that farmers had no idea an order was coming.Three leaders of three Kasich administration agencies — the Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio EPA — met with farm leaders three times since October 2017 to discuss taking serious action to curtail harmful algal blooms, Griesmer said."They didn't offer any relevant or credible actions they would be willing to take," Griesmer said.She referred the Register to the Department of Agriculture when asked for examples of the farming groups.The meetings were with many of the major farming groups, including the Ohio Farm Bureau and commodity groups representing corn growers, wheat growers, soybean farmers, and so on, said Brett Gates, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The meetings were hosted "to discuss water quality and ways the agencies and the agricultural community can make meaningful changes to improve the health of Lake Erie," Gates said."These were informal meetings; no minutes or attendance records were kept," Gates wrote in an email to the Register.The governor dismissed complaints about his order in a recent press conference and said the gripes are designed to hide the fact that some people don't want to take serious action."We gave people a long time to come to the table and get this done, and they were not there," he said. The answer has been "don't do anything," Kasich said.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.The blue sky reflects on Lake Erie along the Main Street Beach in Vermilion on June 9, 2018.