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Pollution rules appear likely to be enacted
By Spencer Hunt
The Columbus Dispatch
Proposed state regulations intended to cut the farm pollution plaguing Grand Lake St. Marys could take effect as soon as Dec. 23.
The state's plan includes rules that would limit how much manure can be spread on farm fields south of Grand Lake.
Lawmakers and groups that testified at a statehouse committee hearing this afternoon voiced no opposition.
"At this point, we believe this is reasonable and good policy," Beth Vanderkooi, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation's state policy director, told lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.
The 10-member panel has the authority to deny proposed state rules only if they deem that they exceed or contradict state law or other state rules. None of the legislators on the 10-member panel offered an objection.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials proposed the rules in July, after toxic algae at the 13,000- acre Grand Lake grew so dense that people were warned not to touch the water, take boats out on the lake or eat any fish caught there.
State health officials believe at least eight people were "most likely" sickened by algae-excreted liver and nerve toxins.
The rules would make livestock farmers routinely test soil to see how much, if any, manure is needed to fertilize crops. It also would ban the spreading of manure on frozen fields.
Both requirements are intended to cut the amount of manure that washes off fields during storms. Officials believe the manure is the prime source of algae-feeding phosphorus and nitrogen in the lake. |
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