Mr. Lake Erie

Lake Erie Algae Bloom

In February of 2019 Lake Erie’s ecosystem was given legal rights. This means that citizens surrounding Lake Erie who can sue government bodies or corporations if they have evidence that someone is harming the lake. To understand why this unprecedented decision was made you have to go back all the way back to the beginning of the 19th century.

In the summer of 2014 Lake Erie experienced a monstrous algae bloom, this harmful phytoplankton can cause vomiting and liver damage. Though algae blooms are a common occurrence in lake Erie the one in 2014 was significant not only for its sheer size but the impact it had on humans. The algae bloom contaminated the drinking water of the surrounding areas, and though the water was deemed safe to drink again the algae blooms did not stop. They kept on returning contaminating the drinking water and hurting Lake Erie's ecosystem.


Lake Erie 2014 Bloom

It's important to look back and figure out what is causing these severe blooms, the short answer is cattle and farming.

The land west of Lake Erie now is mostly corn and soybean fields, but prior to the 20th century it was called The Great Black Swamp. It was a giant swamp that was left untouched by Native Americans until European Settlers arrived. They wanted to drain the swamp.


The Clearing of the Great Black Swamp

They did this by digging trenches around the field to siphon of the water and they put underground tubes in to move the water from the swampy soil to its final destination Lake Erie. For organic crop farming this wouldn't have been a problem for Lake Erie but today this area is home to 146 Centralized Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are small areas of land in which cows, chicken, and pigs are raised. It is a cost effective cruel way to raise cattle fast. CAFOs created a problem, because there are so many animals in a modest amount of land there is an enormous amount of waste (manure) and nowhere for it to go. This resulted in the creation of manure lagoons (manure and water).


Manure Lagoon

When these lagoons fill up the manure is loaded up and sprayed across corn and soybean fields to fertilize the land. The liquid mixture not only fertilizes the soil but leaks into the underground tubes and eventually makes its way to Lake Erie. Phosphorus from the manure and warm water from the lake bond to create orthophosphate. Orthophosphate is what stimulates Lake Erie’s toxic algae bloom, and if manure keeps on entering the lake Orthophosphate levels will continue to rise and the algae blooms will become more frequent and more severe.

This is why Toledo, Ohio’s citizens fought for Lake Erie to have legal rights. In February 2019 they prevailed, which means any citizen of Toledo that has evidence that a corporation or government body is harming the lake can file a lawsuit on behalf to Lake Erie. This is a new movement that wants to give rights to parks, rivers, mountains, and forests to protect them from humans. On the surface the Lake Erie Bill of Rights seems like a great bill that protect Lake Erie, but if you think long term this law could set a dangerous precedence.

The new wave of environmental conservatism that gives inanimate objects and land rights has quite a few unintended consequences. To begin there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will uphold this law, and if it does get stuck down this bars all future bills from being passed. In addition to this, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights can be abused by companies and people who want to further their own agenda, this could be done by companies who falsify evidence that their competitors are harming the lakes ecosystem.

While something needs to be done to protect Lake Erie and those who rely on it, giving a lake legal rights may not be the best way to go.


Toledans protesting for Lake Erie Bill of Rights