would compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to move faster on adopting a drinking-water standard for western Lake Erie’s chief algal toxin, microcystin, unanimously passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday and is awaiting a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Co-sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) and Rob Portman (R., Ohio), the Senate version of the Safe and Secure Drinking Water Act would hold the U.S. EPA to its commitment to publish a health advisory for microcystin by late next spring and require the agency to submit periodic reports to Congress on the evolving science behind the issue.

The goal is to get the U.S. EPA to adopt a firm standard for an acceptable level of microcystin in drinking water, which the agency has said could take years.

Because of the missing domestic guideline, most states, including Ohio, have turned to a 1998 World Health Organization guideline of 1.0 parts per billion of microcystin-lr. But microcystin-lr is only one of 80 known microcystin varieties, and the science behind that WHO guideline is more than 16 years old and not specific to the United States. Water treatment plant operators have said they need more U.S. EPA direction.

The bill was in response to last August’s Toledo water crisis, in which high levels of four microcystin varieties rendered tap water unsafe for nearly 500,000 metro water customers over three days.

“This is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that will ensure Ohioans are confident in the safety of their drinking water,” Mr. Brown said. “Our bill will address a void in our current monitoring efforts to protect our water and address potential public health threats.”

Mr. Portman said it is “critical that all levels of government work together to determine if our drinking water is safe for human consumption.”

“As we continue to work to ensure that Ohioans have access to safe and clean drinking water, the passage of this legislation is an important step toward knowing what is safe and what is not,” he said.

The House companion bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo).

The legislation would require the U.S. EPA to publish a health advisory within 180 days. Industry officials have said they want to use the advisory as their guideline until a firm standard is adopted.

Joining plant operators in calling for a standard have been Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler, public health officials such as Toledo Lucas County Health Commissioner Dr. David Grossman, and numerous other officials.

Microcystin is a toxin produced by two forms of Lake Erie cyanobacteria known as blue-green algae, especially microcystis, the most prevalent one in the lake’s western basin.

Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.


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