Toledo voters approve legal rights for Lake Erie News
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Toledo voters approve legal rights for Lake Erie

Voters in Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday approved an amendment to the city charter giving Lake Erie legal rights. This charter amendment would allow any resident of Toledo to sue on behalf of the Lake.

Lake Erie is a source of water for an estimated 11 million US and Canadian citizens. As recently as 2014 the water in Toledo was unsafe to drink for a period of three days, due to runoff from farms causing a toxic green cyanobacteria bloom.

On Wednesday a lawsuit was filed in federal district court, challenging the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. The lawsuit was brought by the Drewes Family Farm and alleges that the Lake Erie Bill of Rights will “put the family at risk of massive liability if any fertilizer runoffs enters the Lake Erie watershed.”

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