(Toledo, OH) Toledo City Council may take the next big step in fighting toxic algae blooms tonight.
Toledo's mayor is asking city council to approve a 49-million dollar loan from an Ohio EPA revolving loan account to pay for improvements at the Collins Park water treatment plant aimed at paying for a permanent algae bloom ozone treatment system.
A short-term solution was put in place to filter out the algal toxin microcystin after the 2014 toxic Toledo water crisis, but the new system serves as a long-term strategy for the removal of those toxins from the drinking water supply for 500,000 people.
But the huge investment comes as Toledo leaders talk with suburban officials about forming a regional water authority and possibly selling or leasing the water treatment plant to the group.