WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the release of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) first Harmful Algal Bloom Bulletin, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) reaffirmed his call for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) continued investment in imaging technology that helps track harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Brown joined members of the Ohio congressional delegation in a letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, urging full funding and technical support of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Erie program.

“Lake Erie serves as a freshwater source for millions of Ohioans,” said Brown. “We can’t afford another water crisis like the one in Toledo. NASA Glenn Research Center’s work to detect harmful algal blooms has been critical to Ohio’s efforts to fight harmful algal blooms and deserves full funding.”

Brown continues to fight to secure clean drinking water for Ohioans and to protect Lake Erie. In May, Brown applauded news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had announced a health advisory laying out guidelines for effective monitoring of and treatment of microcystin. Brown had called for the EPA to publish a health advisory to help inform and educate local and state officials in his Safe and Secure Drinking Water Act. In February, Brown announced the introduction of the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act (GLEEPA), bipartisan legislation that would formally authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to protect the Great Lakes from a variety of ecological threats and invasive species like harmful algal blooms and Asian carp.

 

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