Environmental groups win allies in Lake Erie lawsuit

SANDUSKY — The cities of Toledo and Oregon and the Lake Erie Foundation have all filed friend of the court briefs in a federal lawsuit aimed at forcing U.S. EPA to take further action to halt harmful algal blooms.Sandusky may also decide to participate in the case.The brief, filed Aug. 10 by Toledo and Oregon in Environmental Law and Policy Center, et al., vs. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., before U.S. District Judge James G. Carr in Toledo, asks for permission for the two cities to participate in the lawsuit as friends of the court.The brief asserts that more regulation by the U.S. EPA is needed to deal with the annual harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie."The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to protect the environment by continuing to allow the state of Ohio to ignore the mandates of the Clean Water Act and create a TMDL for Lake Erie. The Clean Water Act's requirement to create a TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) for an impaired waterway is a solution to pollution problem that involves many independent actors," the brief states.It says that action is needed in particular to deal with runoff from farms."Voluntary measures of reducing nonpoint sources of nutrients are not working. Without the guidance and accountability that a TMDL analysis would provide, it is highly doubtful that the political support will exist to hold nonpoint polluters accountable in a regulatory manner. Hence, the phosphorus loading will continue unabated and Lake Erie will continue to turn green every year," the brief states.Phosphorus is a key component of fertilizer. Ohio has attempted, mostly using voluntary methods, to reduce the amount of phosphorus running off farm fields from rain and getting into the lake.The Lake Erie Foundation brief also argues that the U.S. EPA needs to impose a TMDL standard.A press release describing the brief states, "As an example of why this TMDL is needed, the brief also documents the nearly 30 years of failed efforts of the multi-jurisdictional Chesapeake Bay agreements from 1983 until 2010. It was only when the TMDL was established in 2010 that progress in addressing the problems began. Today, one will find a greatly improved Chesapeake Bay with the return of the oyster and crab businesses and healthier bay waters."The federal lawsuit began to attract the attention of Sandusky officials, who saw an update about the case in the Toledo Blade.Sandusky's ex-officio mayor, Dennis Murray Jr., wrote in an email to the Register that he brought up the lawsuit at the Sandusky City Commission's Monday meeting.Murray said that when he mentioned the matter, he learned Sandusky's city manager, Eric Wobser, has already asked the city's legal staff to look into the city's options.The lawsuit has already forced the U.S. EPA to declare that the waters of western Lake Erie are "impaired," a designation long sought by environmentalists.The Environmental Law and Policy Center has asked Carr to keep the case open and order the U.S. EPA to begin the TMDL process.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.U.S. District Judge James Carr.