FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2004
Contacts:
James Clift, Michigan Environmental Council, 517 487-9539
Margaret Wooster, Great Lakes consultant, 716 833-5892
Lake Erie groups promote new limits for phosphates in dishwashing detergents
Twenty-one environmental organizations from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario and New York are urging the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to promulgate a new rule limiting the phosphorous content in dishwashing detergent. If adopted, the new rule will provide greatest benefit to the state of Ohio, which is blessed with the longest Lake Erie coastline of the four bordering states, but also the most affected by pollutants in the lake.
"Excess phosphorous was a major cause in the near death of Lake Erie thirty years ago and is a significant contributor to the dead zone now," says Margaret Wooster, coordinator for a network of about 50 Lake Erie
groups. "Unfortunately, the 1977 rule that limited the phosphorous content in laundry detergent and helped bring the Lake back to life, did not cover phosphorous amounts in dishwashing detergents, which are nearly 18 times higher, and there are a lot more homes with dishwashers today."
The groups want Michigan to apply the same phosphorous content to dishwashing detergents that already applies to laundry detergents. High levels of phosphorous lead to algae blooms, high oxygen demand as the algae decays, and consequent low oxygen levels in a stream or lake. The fish die-offs in the 1970s as well as the "dead zone"discovered in the central Lake Erie basin in 2001 are signs of oxygen levels too low to support life. According to Ohio Sea Grant's studies of the dead zone, phosphorous levels in Lake Erie have been increasing since 1995.
"Michigan contributes an estimated 93 percent of phosphorous inputs to Lake Erie, largely through wastewater from facilities like the Detroit sewage treatment plant," says James Clift of the Michigan Environmental Council. "By applying the stricter phosphorous content requirement to dishwashing detergents, Michigan will not only contribute to the second recovery of Lake Erie, but also send a message to other bordering jurisdictions that all parties must take aggressive action to defend the lake."
Posted by Dave at September 16, 2004 03:46 PM