On the One Year Anniversary of Toledo Water Crisis, Portman Urges Senate to Pass Bill Directing the EPA to Address Algal Blooms

Washington, D.C. – August 5, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — On the one year anniversary of the Toledo water crisis, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) went to the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to drop their objections and pass his Drinking Water Protection Act. This legislation, which Portman authored with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), will direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and report to Congress a strategic Algal Toxin Risk Assessment and Management Plan within 90 days. The Plan will evaluate the risk to human health from drinking water provided by public water systems contaminated with algal toxins and recommend feasible treatment options, including procedures and source water protection practices, to mitigate any adverse public health effects of algal toxins. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH-05) authored this legislation in the House.  Latta’s legislation passed the House in February, 375 to 37.

Portman’s remarks can be found here.

Portman also urged his colleagues to take up this bill last week. Portman has led efforts in the Senate to protect Lake Erie and Ohio’s drinking water. Portman serves as vice-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force. He is the author of the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act, which was signed into law last year. He is also the author of the Defending Our Great Lakes Act which would take specific measures address the threat of Asian Carp in the Great Lakes. He has also introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2015, legislation that authorizes the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a results-driven program to address some of the most serious issues that threaten the ecological and economic wellbeing of the entire Great Lakes basin.