Groups Call for Healthy Lake Erie Free from Harmful Algal Blooms

Contact: Melissa Damaschke, Sierra Club melissa.damaschke@sierraclub.org, (313) 965-0055

Alliance for the Great Lakes •  Environmental Defence Canada  •  Environmental Law & Policy Center •  Freshwater Future  •  Lake Erie Charter Boat Association  • Lake Erie Improvement Association  •  Lake Erie Waterkeeper  •  The Nature Conservancy – Ohio  •  National Wildlife Federation • Ohio Environmental Council  •  Sierra Club 

(Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015) Washington, DC – The Great Lakes Commission, an interstate agency with representatives appointed by the governors and premiers of all Great Lakes states and provinces, meets today in Washington, DC about six months after nearly 500,000 residents of the Toledo area faced a drinking water ban lasting more than two days because a massive toxic algal bloom made water from Lake Erie unsafe to drink.

Even though the region is firmly in winter’s grip, spring is on its way and the same factors that lead to the toxic algal blooms each summer in western Lake Erie will return once again. Even more concerning: thanks to previous damage to the lake, the impacts of invasive zebra and quagga mussels that exacerbate pollution problems, and the effects of a changing climate, the nutrient problem will likely get worse if we do nothing.

It is unacceptable that Lake Erie has been polluted so significantly that drinking water for approximately 11 million Americans and Canadians is at risk. Fortunately, this problem is not out of our control. It is preventable.

Report after report by leading university researchers and government agencies shows that the science is clear: dissolved phosphorus from agricultural runoff is driving the resurgence of harmful algal blooms. We call on the governors and premiers to commit to at least a 40 percent reduction in phosphorus, with an emphasis on reducing agricultural sources. This reduction commitment must be accompanied by a clear timetable with a firm deadline, clear milestones, and a monitoring plan to measure progress and help agencies adjust programs, if needed, to ensure deadlines are met.

Starting tomorrow, residents from around the region head to Capitol Hill as part of the annual Great Lakes Days to call on Congress to fund important programs that would help reduce farm field and urban runoff into the lakes. We will be voicing our support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, State Revolving Funds to stop sewer overflows and improve wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, and regional Farm Bill conservation funds. These programs are an important part of efforts to reduce phosphorus flowing into the Great Lakes and around the country. But much more needs to be done.

The Great Lakes region has come together again and again in a uniquely bi-partisan manner to do what is right for the lakes. And, we can do it again. Until our lakes are free of harmful algal blooms, our economy, drinking water and way of life are in jeopardy. The time for action is now. The health of our lakes and our region depend on it.

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Lake Erie’s Poisoned Water & Other Impacts of Modern Agriculture

March 9 Conference Explores How We Got Here and How to Move Forward

Less=More Coalition Convenes Experts, Farmers and Consumers during MSU Ag & Natural Resources Week

What:                    Farming Our Future: The Forces and Faces of 21st Century Agriculture

When:                  Monday, March 9, 2015, 9am‐4pm (registration opens 8am)

Where:                 Kellogg Center Auditorium, 219 S. Harrison, East Lansing

Admission:          $25 general; $20 students with school ID (admission includes lunch)

Register:              http://tinyurl.com/FarmingOurFuture

More info:          http://michigan.sierraclub.org/calendar/LESS=MORE_Conference.html  

Questions:          gail.philbin@sierraclub.org

Lansing, MI— Last summer’s water crisis in Lake Erie still ripples in today's headlines. Fed by farm runoff, the toxic algal bloom that poisoned Toledo's water for two days inspired the recent announcement of the USDA’s $370 million Regional Conservation Partnership Program to help prevent waste and fertilizer runoff in Michigan and other states.  It also motivated  citizens’ groups and environmental advocates to push the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality at its Jan. 21 meeting to toughen regulations in the state's water pollution permit for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which is currently under review.

Lake Erie’s health will also underscore everything discussed at Farming Our Future: The Forces and Faces of 21st Century Agriculture, a groundbreaking conference  March  9 at Michigan State University during MSU’s historic Agriculture and Natural Resources Week.  Presented by the sustainable agriculture Less=More Coalition, Farming Our Future will channel diverse national, regional and local conversations about the environmental, economic and social impacts of modern agriculture into a comprehensive forum to facilitate joint efforts to build a better food system.  It will explore the political, legal, and historical forces that shape farming in Michigan today and how to chart a path to a more sustainable food system. 

The conference will feature keynote addresses by Tim Gibbons, communications director of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, and Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank in Chicago, and will bring together agricultural policy and legal experts, farmers, consumers and researchers in two panel discussions including:

·         Dr. M. Jahi Chappell, director of agroecology and agriculture policy at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

·         Pete Kennedy, president of the Farm-to‐Consumer Legal Defense Fund

·         Phil Howard, an associate professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Community Sustainability

·         Joe Maxwell, a hog farmer and vice president of outreach & engagement at The Humane Society of the United States

·         Michelle Jackson, a fourth‐generation African American urban farmer in Detroit

·         Michael Vanderbrug, a sustainable farmer and agricultural operations director in the community outreach department of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids.

The conference takes place from 9am‐4pm Monday, March 9, at the Kellogg Center Auditorium, 219 S. Harrison, East Lansing. Admission is $25; $20 for students (with school ID). To register, visit: http://tinyurl.com/FarmingOurFuture.  For an agenda and more information about the conference, visit http://michigan.sierraclub.org/calendar/LESS=MORE_Conference.html