America's infrastructure is crumbling and now a major American city enters the third day where residents cannot drink the water. The story makes America sound like some backward country in Africa. It's yet another example of what happens when spending on infrastructure is slashed and need regulation delayed to satisfy the demands of the Tea Party extremists who dominate the GOP. Huffington Post looks at the plight of folks in Toledo, Ohio. Here are highlights:
A water ban entered its third day in northwest Ohio after tests showed some toxins still contaminating Lake Erie, leaving residents to continue scrambling for water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins said early Monday that most of the tests done by state and federal authorities on Sunday showed a positive trend, but that additional testing is necessary.
He told WTOL-TV that he was concerned by some of the results and didn't want to take any chances.
The city council was to review the test results at its regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday.
Ohio's fourth-largest city warned residents not to use city water early Saturday after tests at one treatment plant showed readings for microcystin above the standard for consumption, most likely from algae on the lake. The advisory affected more than 400,000 residents in northwestern Ohio and southwestern Michigan. Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared a state of emergency.
Worried residents told not to drink, brush their teeth or wash dishes with the water descended on truckloads of bottled water delivered from across the state. The Ohio National Guard was using water purification systems to produce drinkable water. Water distribution centers are scheduled reopen at 8 a.m. Monday.
Some hospitals canceled elective surgeries and were sending surgical equipment that needed sterilized to facilities outside the water emergency, said Bryan Biggie, disaster coordinator for ProMedica hospitals in Toledo.
Drinking the water could cause vomiting, cramps and rashes. But no serious illnesses had been reported by late Sunday. Health officials advised children and those with weak immune systems to avoid showering or bathing in the water.
Amid the emergency, discussion began to center around how to stop the pollutants fouling the lake that supplies drinking water for 11 million people.
"People are finally waking up to the fact that this is not acceptable," Collins said.
The toxins that contaminated the region's drinking water supply didn't just suddenly appear. Water plant operators along western Lake Erie have long been worried about this very scenario as a growing number of algae blooms have turned the water into a pea soup color in recent summers, leaving behind toxins that can sicken people and kill pets.
In fact, the problems on the shallowest of the five Great Lakes brought on by farm runoff and sludge from sewage treatment plants have been building for more than a decade.
Researchers largely blame the algae's resurgence on manure and chemical fertilizer from farms that wash into the lake along with sewage treatment plants. Leaky septic tanks and stormwater drains have contributed, too. Combined, they flush huge amounts of phosphorus into the lake.
Environmental groups and water researchers have been calling on Ohio and other states in the Great Lakes region to drastically reduce the amount of phosphorus flowing into the lake. Ohio lawmakers this past spring took a step toward tackling the algae problem when they enacted a law requiring most farmers to undergo training before they use commercial fertilizers on their fields. But they have stopped short of mandating restrictions on farmers.
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