Impairment not in Ohio Lake Erie protection plan draft

OREGON - The Ohio Lake Erie Commission on Wednesday approved a draft of its protection and restoration plan that outlines goals needed to address a number of issues facing Lake Erie.

The Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan, which soon will be available for public review, prioritizes issues such as reducing nutrient pollution that causes harmful algal blooms, invasive species, coastal health issues like E. coli and much more.

The plan is also Ohio’s state-level part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which the United States and Canada reached in 2012, as well as the Western Basin of Lake Erie Collaborative Agreement, which Ohio, Michigan and Ontario signed last year agreeing to reduce total phosphorus entering Lake Erie by 40 percent within 10 years.

Karl Gebhardt, deputy director for water resources and Lake Erie programs at the Ohio EPA, noted that with the commission being made up of a combination of various state agencies, much of the work required for the plan’s goals is carried out by those individual agencies.

“We thought that it would be better for the commission to focus a little broader, higher level, on goals and objectives,” Gebhardt said. “Then working through the agencies on how we are going to get those implemented.”

The result is the plan being reduced from about 80 pages down to 18.

“We’re not duplicating efforts and resources already there,” he said.

Following some minor changes from Wednesday’s meeting, the approved draft will be available online for public review and comment for about 30 days. A final version is then expected to be ready by May, though no deadline is set.

After the plan is finalized, the commission will begin working with the individual agencies to determine the action steps they are currently engaged in or need to become engaged in to reach objectives defined in the plan.

Craig Butler, director of the Ohio EPA and chair of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, described the commission’s hope to make the plan a “driving document” that will offer direction on everything they do as it pertains to the protection and restoration efforts.

“I think it’s all in the right direction,” said James Zehringer, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. “It’s something that needed to be done and it’s 18 pages of priorities. So I believe we’re headed in the right direction.”

One step that is notably not included in the plan is any work toward declaring the Western Lake Erie Basin an “impaired watershed,” a specification established by the Clean Water Act that would trigger an assessment by the EPA at the federal level and result in a strictly enforced recovery plan.

Several environmental groups, including the Lake Erie Improvement Association, have been calling for the declaration.

Ron Wyss, secretary of the Lake Erie Improvement Association, issued a statement on the group’s behalf doing just that during the public comment portion of the commission meeting.

Paul Toth, president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, said he has heard concerns from city officials about how an “impaired” designation could accelerate their combined sewer overflow work, which is a 20-year program. Toth said he hopes the commission and the plan will help get everyone on the same page.

Butler said there are functional concerns and impediments associated with the “impairment” issue.

He said with the "Annex 4" and collaborative agreement, existing efforts are already working toward what the those calling for "impairment" are asking for, which is an assessment of the harmful algal bloom problem and how to successfully combat it.

“Annex 4” is the section of the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement dealing with nutrient pollution, specifically phosphorus.

“When you’re talking about image, tourism and jobs, those are things you have to take into serious consideration before you stand up and shout from the rooftops that we’re an impaired watershed,” Toth said.

Butler said he believes everyone is “pointing in the same direction,” it is just a matter of determining the best vehicle to get there.

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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