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Lucas County Commissioners sue EPA over Lake Erie cleanup


Lucas County Commissioners filed the federal lawsuit against the EPA on Thursday (WNWO).{p}{/p}
Lucas County Commissioners filed the federal lawsuit against the EPA on Thursday (WNWO).

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TOLEDO, Ohio (WNWO) -- Lucas County Commissioners are taking legal action to clean up Lake Erie.

The board filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday afternoon against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The lawsuit claims the EPA is violating the Clean Water Act of 1972, and says its the agency's job to keep the lake clean during its impaired status.

"Guess what EPA, it's time for you to do your part and protect us," said Pete Gerken, Lucas County Commissioner.

The lawsuit says the agency isn't following the requirements designated by the Clean Water Act, that was established to regulate pollutants into the water.

"It is a sad day when the local government has to sue the federal government to do their job," said Gerken.

The complaint states that under the Clean Water Act, the Ohio EPA is required to report a total maximum daily load of phosphorous and other nutrients entering the lake that lead to the harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.

The county says its the federal agency's responsibility to make sure the state agency is complying.

"We want accountability we want to know the amount of phosphorus that's going into the lake and what can be done to measure and account for change and certainly that's not occurring now, so we're taking this legal action," said Tina Wozniak, Lucas County Commissioner.

This comes after other recent discussions about algae in Lake Erie with the passing of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, a lawsuit filed against that by a local farmer, a proposed $900 million fund to clean Ohio's waterways from the governor and a new campaign announced just this week from the City of Toledo, asking residents to do their part.

However, commissioners say they believe this action will net the best results and want to avoid another water catastrophe like what the city saw in 2014.

"This is an action that is created under the Clean Water Act, specifically filed under that, and so we believe that is the more actionable way to approach this problem and again although we're filing a lawsuit we're looking for a resolution that benefits our community," said Gary Byers, Lucas County Commissioner.

The U.S. EPA will have 90 days to answer the federal lawsuit then the case will be taken from there.

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