Kasich Says Algae in Erie is Detroit's Doing

In a statement sure to irritate his neighbors to the north, Ohio Gov. John Kasich told reporters that Lake Erie’s continued algae trouble is Detroit’s doing.Erie, the smallest of the great lakes, is particularly susceptible to pollution.  The lake is exposed to tributaries from Ohio that are contaminated by agricultural runoff, while also serving as a dumping ground for thousands of tons of the Motor City’s waste water. Both of these factors fill Lake Erie with phosphorus, making conditions ideal for ecosystem-destroying algae.Adamant in his praise for Ohio farmers, Kasich only mentioned the follies above the border when speaking about Lake Erie’s poor conditions."We have a problem with Detroit dumping a bunch of sewage in the lake that causes big problems..." Kasich told the press.While it is true that Detroit dumps massive amounts of sewage into the lake, evidence suggests that the majority of Lake Erie’s toxic algae blooms are a result of runoff from Ohio farms. Experts say they are confident of this because the runoff, which occurs after heavy rains, was largely absent last year due to a dry spring. Despite 2011 being Lake Erie’s strongest year on record for the toxic blue green algae, the lack of runoff in 2012 reduced the blooms to almost nothing."In a way, last year was a great experiment, and we got to see the lake respond rather quickly...” said David Baker, the director emeritus of the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg College in Tiffin. Baker went on to say that the blue green algae problem was not as bad as it was in 2012.Perhaps the most decisive evidence comes from satellite images, which show that there are no traces of the blue green algae in the Detroit River. In addition, Detroit’s waste dumping practices, while destructive in their own right, only account for a fraction of the overwhelming amount of algae blooms in years past.As the months continue to roll by, and spring gets closer, there is sure to be more discussion about regulatory measures for both states.