Subcommittee Hearing: Cyanotoxins In Drinking Water

On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing entitled “Cyanotoxins in Drinking Water."

Drinking water contamination by algal blooms in the source water of public water systems gained national attention this summer when blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) laced with a toxin called microcystin (a cyanotoxin) were found in Lake Erie and Toledo’s Collins Water Treatment Plant. On August 2, 2014, based upon two sample readings for microcystin that were above Ohio’s one (1) microgram per liter standard, the City of Toledo, Ohio urged all Toledo water customers to neither drink nor boil its treated tap water until an “all clear” was issued. Residents were later advised against using the water to brush their teeth, bathe their children, or give to their pets. Two days later, the Mayor of Toledo lifted the advisory.

However, after the ban was lifted the city banned swimming and other recreational activities in one of the drinking water reservoirs.

SOURCE: Energy & Commerce Committee