TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – The mayor of Toledo has lifted a water ban that left 400,000 Ohio and Michigan residents scrambling for water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Mayor D. Michael Collins said Monday that the Lake Erie drinking water is safe and that the warning has been lifted, based on tests conducted by the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies.
Shortly after the announcement, Gov. John Kasich issued a statement in support of Collins’s decision.
“My hat is…off to all who worked around the clock to distribute water and other essentials. They made a big difference,” Kasich said.
Kasich had declared states of emergency for Lucas, Wood and Fulton counties and Ohio National Guard members deployed to provide residents with water and food.
“Throughout the difficulty of the past few days everyone involved has demonstrated the utmost professionalism and commitment to solving this problem,” Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler said in a statement released Monday morning. “In the days ahead, we will continue to work closely with Toledo and others to better understand what happened and support their effort to supply safe drinking water to its customers.”
The announcement comes after people in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan were told to avoid drinking tap water because of toxins contaminating the lake, possibly from algae.
Toledo officials issued the water warning in Ohio’s fourth-largest city early Saturday.
The Ohio National Guard and other state agencies delivered pallets of bottled water to the city and operating water purification systems to make more drinkable water.
Toledo officials issued the water warning in Ohio’s fourth-largest city early Saturday after tests revealed the presence of the toxin microcystin, likely from algae on Lake Erie.
People in four Monroe County, Mich., communities were also affected by the contamination.