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News

Oregon's Raw Sewage flows to Maume Bay State Park 4th of July Weekend - Oregon Tells No One

Beachgoers were not told that Oregon wastewater with visible toilet paper was being discharged into nearby Wolfe Creek which drains into the park over the 4th of July weekend. Vivid pictures show the unreported problem. Ohio EPA says that the permit requires no notification. Beachgoers and residents in the area deserved to be told.

Oregon built a new Seaman Rd. trunkline about five years ago. Since then it appears Oregon is using the new sewer line for 'storage capacity' allowing wastewater from the urban city to discharge into Wolfe Creek.

Maumee Bay is experiencing massive growth in algae. Algae thrives on matter with nutrients ...like raw sewage.

More to come.

Mayflies..in Port Clinton not Maumee Bay???

It is curious that this year there are lots of mayflies in Port Clinton but not Maumee Bay. Those that study these issues say it could be the winds. A contibuting factor could also be the algae - the suspended type and bottom growing lyngbya that deplete oxygen supplies.

Ohio approves Great Lakes Compact

and placing Constitutional Amendment for Private Water Rights on the Ballot

The state legislature has approved and the governor is expected to sign the Great Lakes compact. This is good news for the lakes. Michigan and Pennsylvania have yet to pass the Compact. Once the states approve then Congress will also need to approve the legislation aimed at keeping water in the Great Lakes.

The Ohio legislature also approved placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot that concerns private property water rights - waiting for the exact language and analysis.

Ohio still needs to pass implementing legislation which will indicate Ohio's resolve on this issue.

OEPA approves open lake dumping for two more years....

OEPA is allowing Maumee Bay and River sediments to be open lake dumped just beyond the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse. This comes at a time when Western Lake Erie is once again turning green and there are increasing dead zones in the central basin. Open Lake dumping is a risky practice in the shallowest, warmest, 'fishiest' waters in the Great Lakes.

CSX seeks permit for Coal staging..

CSX wants a permit to discharge into Lake Erie waters - though it is really Maumee Bay for a new transfer station they propose. There is a public hearing on this permit application on July 15 at 6:30p.m. at the Lake Erie Center 6200 Bayshore Rd. Oregon, Ohio 43618 - more to come.

Lygbya algae - green at the shore

Lyngbya wollei is a new invasive algae in our Western Lake Erie.

This invasive first appeared in Maumee Bay in late-summer 2006 and has since blanketed much of the southern shore of Maumee Bay. In 20o07 it was seen in mounds out in the Bay. Now in June 2008, there is less lyngbya than last year. The water is cooler and the lyngbya likes 80 degrees or warmer.

Lyngbya is known as the "beast" and "cockroach" of algae, it is so tough it can withstand our winters.

Unlike other algae which free floats, Lyngbya wollei attaches to sediments and massively grows in short periods of time.

Like all algae, it readily feeds on phosphorous, but Lyngbya wollei also likes nitrogen. It especially thrives in warm, stagnant water with fecal waste.

Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers keeps tossing the dredged sediments in the open lake. This will feed, and therefore spread, this already problematic algae.

The suspended sediments are predicted to travel over 100 miles, which would be east of Cleveland.

To comment on the spreading of Lyngbya wollei via open lake dumping, please email Craig Forget of the Army Corps of Engineers at Craig.M.Forget@usace.army.mil and OEPA Director Chris Korleski at chris.korleski@epa.state.oh.us

A request to stop open lake dumping and the spreading of the was made to the Lake Erie Commission.

Please see our Lyngbya wollei and Dredging pages for more.

Coke Plant: Appeals Filed

"The Sierra Club, in tandem with Harbor View - a village downwind of the proposed site - has appealed the permit modification on the grounds that too much time has elapsed." -- The Blade, April 1, 2008

On January 31, 2008, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency had issued a modified permit-to-install for FDS Coke LLC. To read the OEPA news release, click here.

The January 31, 2008, permit-to-install is available here, and the June 21, 2007, FDS application is available here.

The OEPA refuses to set any standards in this permit for the 1.1 million tons of CO2, the most conspicuous greenhouse gas, that will be released.

This new coke plant will have more emissions than the old Interlake Coke Plant on Front St. in Toledo, Ohio . . . about 3x more, according to OEPA records.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's response to public from December 2007 submissions is available here.

Additionally, the OEPA has also issued a permit-to-install for "a cooling tower to be used as part of an electric generation facility the company also plans to build." You can view this permit here.

Further information from the Ohio EPA about the proposed FDS Coke plant in Toledo and Oregon, Ohio, can be found here.

To learn more about this plant of heavy pollution and its unknown backers, please head over to our Coke Plant page.