Manure From Unregulated Factory Farms Fuels Lake Erie’s Toxic Algae Blooms

Across America, outbreaks of toxic algae, triggered by polluted farm runoff, are increasing in frequency and severity, fouling drinking water with dangerous toxins. In 2014, an algae outbreak in Lake Erie contaminated the tap water for 500,000 people in and around Toledo, Ohio, rendering it unsafe to drink for three days.

Lake Erie is fed by the Maumee River, whose vast watershed includes hundreds of factory farms with hogs, cattle and poultry that produce millions of pounds of manure annually. Manure is rich in phosphorus, which feeds the algae blooms that infest the lake each year. But there has been scant verifiable information about how much the manure from factory farms is to blame for the pollution pouring into Lake Erie – until now...read more.