COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Like clockwork for more than a decade, the western Lake Erie basin has experienced horrific summer recurrences of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Over that time, we have achieved progress in understanding why we have these outbreaks and their impacts. Now, we know that HABs are mainly fueled by excessive phosphorus load to the western Lake Erie basin from agricultural runoff. However, we have failed to achieve any real progress in reducing the amount of phosphorus runoff into waterways or in reducing the severity of HABs.
A major source of the excessive phosphorus load are animal feeding operations that generate vast amounts of manure that is spread on nearby land, ostensibly as fertilizer. But there is so much manure, it is applied even when the phosphorus in the manure is not needed for plant growth. This excessive application has resulted in an increase in the nutrient concentration in soil beyond what crops can utilize. Excess nutrients then run off or are discharged through field drainage tiles into our creeks, rivers and lakes.
The way to truly solve this persistent problem is to attack its source: Stop contaminating the runoff and drainage in the first place. This can be accomplished by establishing and enforcing requirements that end excessive land application of manure and fertilizer on soils that are already saturated with nutrients. Reducing the nutrient concentration in the soil to an acceptable level is an essential first step towards controlling HABs.
In the past, we’ve spent large amounts of taxpayer dollars trying to entice farmers to voluntarily adopt “best management practices” like buffer strips to slow nutrient loss and new wetlands to filter contaminated runoff. However, these approaches only try to treat the symptoms of the problem instead of cutting it off at the source. And the data show that these voluntary efforts have failed to decrease phosphorus loads at all. In fact, these efforts were used in some instances to avoid making the harder but more effective decisions that were needed.
George A. Elmaraghy, a former Ohio EPA official, writes in a guest column today that bolder state action is needed to curb the phosphorus runoff feeding toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.
Recognizing that vital actions weren’t being taken, the Environmental Law & Policy Center and several local government entities and advocacy groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency two years ago. The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. EPA violated the federal Clean Water Act by not requiring the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to develop a total maximum daily load (TMDL) calculation for pollutants, even after Ohio acknowledged that western Lake Erie was impaired.
Plaintiffs want a TMDL because it would specify a total load for phosphorus pollution in the watershed and define the maximum allowed load for each source that would be required to keep the waters of the western Lake Erie basin free of toxic algal blooms. Also, the plaintiffs want the court to require pollutant reductions to occur promptly, to ensure compliance with Ohio’s commitment of a 40% phosphorus reduction by 2025.
While the lawsuit has been pending, Ohio EPA changed tactics and agreed to develop a TMDL, but they haven’t specified a schedule and moreover remain committed to an all-voluntary approach. A federal court is expected to rule on the plaintiffs’ request soon.
A favorable court decision would finally push Ohio toward doing what’s essential to reduce the phosphorus load into Lake Erie. A court-imposed schedule to develop and implement a plan to reduce the phosphorus load will force all the parties to seriously deal with this problem. It would also force the state to revise and enforce the badly needed regulatory requirements which will even the playing field, reward good actors and ignite innovation. The time for bold action to eliminate this scourge is now.
George A. Elmaraghy spent most of his career in Ohio’s state government, serving, among other roles, as chief of the surface water division of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Currently, he is a federal commissioner for the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and a member of the International Joint Commission Water Quality Board.
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