[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 172 (Friday, October 19, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INTRODUCTION OF THE PROTECTION FROM ALGAL TOXINS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 19, 2018

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill to help 
address the grave threat posed to human health from ingestion of 
microcystin toxins. Four summers ago, a massive algal bloom exploded in 
western Lake Erie, which generated microcystin, a cyanobacteria that 
can cause liver damage, nausea, headaches, and skin blemishes in 
humans, and is known to be lethal to pets. Just in the last few months, 
``do not drink'' advisories due to microcystin were posted in Salem, 
Oregon and Rushville, New York.
  As elected officials, our first priority must always be the safety 
and health of our constituents. In that vein, this bill moves to ensure 
microcystin will no longer be a public health threat.
  This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by specifying that the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make a final determination 
on a maximum contaminant level goal and to promulgate a national 
primary drinking water regulation for microcystin toxin. It demands the 
EPA does this before or by the time the next round of determinations is 
due, in 2021.
  I commend the EPA's work to date to generate a strategic plan for 
dealing with algal toxins and for publishing an advisory for 
microcystin. The strategic plan and current health advisory that EPA 
already released are a good beginning point. But we need a finalized 
regulation for the dangerous microcystin that endangers Toledoans every 
summer with Lake Erie's recurring algal bloom problem.
  In addition to the threat they pose to public health, this bacterium 
casts a huge economic shadow over our vital and beautiful coast. 
Toledo's Water Crisis cost the city government over $200,000 in cleanup 
costs alone, not counting untold millions in lost business and 
ultimately lost tax revenue.
  This concern is not isolated to Lake Erie. Millions of Americans 
across the country rely on drinking water from natural sources that are 
similarly threatened by increasing levels of nutrient runoff, and the 
resulting toxic algal growth. A recent study from USGS showed that 
algal toxins are present in over 1/3 of all lakes nationwide. 
Additionally, the EPA recognizes harmful algal blooms as a major 
environmental problem in all 50 states, with severe impacts on human 
health.
  No one should ever have to worry whether the water coming from their 
tap is unclean or unsafe, no matter if you're in Toledo, Ohio; Flint, 
Michigan; Rushville, New York; Salem, Oregon, or anywhere else in 
America. This bill will make us all safer and I urge my colleagues to 
support it.

                          ____________________