Judge gives plaintiffs a week extension as algal bloom grows again

Plaintiffs in a renewed lawsuit who seek greater Lake Erie protections have been given until Monday to tell Senior U.S. District Judge James Carr how they would like the case to proceed.

Attorneys for the defendants — the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, its administrator in Washington, Michael Regan, and its Midwest office chief in Chicago, Debra Shore — filed the administrative record in the case on Aug. 15. The administrative record is an explanation of the government’s decision-making process.

The judge originally gave the plaintiffs until this past Monday to respond, then granted their request for an additional week. The response is now due Sept. 23.

Plaintiffs are the Board of Lucas County Commissioners, the City of Toledo, and the Midwest-based Environmental Law & Policy Center.

A joint motion to extend the deadline, granted by the judge, states that all parties “have been discussing potential issues related to the contents of the administrative record and believe they may be able to resolve their dispute without the Court’s intervention if given additional time to continue their discussions.”

The current lawsuit, filed in May, is a renewed effort to get a strong and meaningful cleanup strategy for western Lake Erie through what’s known as a Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, program.

Plaintiffs are seeking strict limits on agricultural runoff allowed into streams and tributaries. The U.S. EPA approved the state’s first-ever TMDL for the lake’s western basin last year, but plaintiffs claim it wasn’t strong enough and went back to court.

The ultimate goal for both sides is to get western Lake Erie algal blooms under control. They have been appearing almost annually since 1995.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday the 2024 bloom now covers 440 square miles, an increase since Sunday. Its arrival in June was the earliest since NOAA began tracking it each summer in 2002.

Satellite imagery shows it extends from Stony Point, Mich., to Catawba Island, Ohio, and to a lesser degree from Catawba Island toward Lorain, Ohio, and across to the Canadian shore east of Point Pelee.

A separate bloom remains in Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay.

Toxins have been detected above the recreational limit, NOAA said.