House members urge Trump to aid fight against harmful algal blooms

SANDUSKY — A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by two Ohio lawmakers, including Marcy Kaptur, have written to President-elect Donald Trump, asking him to support funding to deal with harmful algal blooms.The letter was sent by Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, and Rep. David Joyce, an Ohio Republican from a district east of Cleveland. Joyce has been active in Great Lakes issues and last year led a successful effort to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.The letter points out that harmful algal blooms have caused serious problems across the country, and asks Trump to support generous funding to combat the problem and carry out research about it when he proposes his new budget."Algal blooms cause enormous damage in my home state. Lake Erie is the drinking source for some 11 million people and in 2014, a toxic algal bloom in Lake Erie forced 400,000 residents in the Toledo area to go without water service for three days. We owe it to people in the region and nationwide to understand the problem and commit to further research," said Kaptur. "I join Mr. Joyce and 46 of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to urge Mr. Trump's administration to join us in this commitment. We must do everything possible to learn more about the problem.""This is about where we swim, where we fish, and most importantly where we draw our drinking water. No matter what part of the country you live in, there is probably a lake, a river, or some body of water near you that will experience some form of harmful algal bloom," said Joyce. "We need to continue to better understand this problem to help better protect our Great Lakes, which contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water."Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma's attorney general, to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.Pruitt's views on the Great Lakes are unknown, but when Pruitt met with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, Portman took the opportunity to bring up Lake Erie, according to a report by Jo Ingles posted at the website for WVXU, a public radio station in Cincinnati."Portman says the two men talked about algae blooms, invasive species and micro beads. The senator says he doesn't want to see the progress made on Lake Erie slowed or reversed," the report said.Marcy Kaptur