Official: Laws a start, but more needed to stop algae

New laws meant to stop farm runoff from feeding Lake Erie toxic algae are a start in getting rid of the green slime, a farming official said.

But more work is needed, said Jerry Bambauer, chairman of the Ohio Soybean Council.

That's why farming organizations are working with the Ohio State University to study how phosphorous from the fertilizer they spread on their fields is leaving the soil and getting into streams and rivers that empty into Lake Erie.

Once they understand how the phosphorous is leaving, they can better figure out how to keep it on their land, said Baumbauer, whose organization is a partner in the OSU study.

Phosphorous feeds the blue-green algae, which can produce a toxin that can sicken people and pets. In August, toxin from algae, called microcystin, contaminated the city of Toledo's drinking water supply and shut down the plant for few days.

"Everyone wants to solve that problem and not have it happen again," Baumbauer told the Outdoor Writers of Ohio earlier this month.

This summer, a law banning the application of fertilizer and manure on frozen and rain-soaked fields will take effect. In 2017, another law takes effect requiring farmers to take a state-run certification course that teaches them how much fertilizer is needed and when it should be applied.

"This is the education part," said Baumbauer, who farms in Shelby and Auglaize counties. "We're trying to educate people to do the right thing."

The study, started in 2013 and led by OSU research scientist Elizabeth Dayton, should help those efforts, he said.

The Ohio Soybean Council and OSU are working with the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association and U.S. Department of Agriculture on the research. Although some data has been compiled, the groups do not want to release it until the study is finished, Baumbauer said.

"Next year or next summer yet, they will be able to get some of these things out there," he said.

Farmers and researchers set up equipment to monitor surface water and runoff at the edge of 38 test sites in the Maumee River, Grand Lake St. Marys in Western Ohio and Upper Scioto watersheds, Baumbauer said.

The Maumee is the largest tributary on Lake Erie and is the major carrier of phosphorous to the lake. Its watershed covers parts of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

The nearest farm fields to Sandusky and Ottawa counties that are participating in the study are in Wood County.

In addition to helping the lake, keeping fertilizer on the land should save farmers money, Baumbauer said.

"A farmer of 2,000 acres can spend upwards of $500,000 per year," he said of fertilizer costs.

Multiple sources — farming, septic systems and wastewater treatment plants — contribute to the algae problem. Scientists have identified agriculture as the biggest contributor on Lake Erie because the land surrounding the lake's Western Basin is highly agricultural.

Baumbauer does not agree that farming is the biggest source of phosphorous on Lake Erie.

"We're probably all some part of it," he said. "No one is major, but we're all a part of it.

"We are definitely doing our part. Everyone else has to do their part also."

mksmith@gannett.com

419-334-1044

Twitter: @kristinasmithNM