"Agency Says US, Canada Fall Short On Protecting Great Lakes"

"TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Despite recent improvements, the U.S. and Canada have a long way to go toward ridding the Great Lakes of pollution that endangers human health and the environment, an advisory agency said Tuesday.

Inadequately treated sewage, industrial chemicals and farm runoff are still flowing into the five lakes that provide drinking water for about 40 million people, the International Joint Commission said in its first checkup report since both nations last updated the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 2012.

The report calls for improving drinking water and sewage treatment facilities, and strengthening clean-water regulations, particularly limits on phosphorus runoff that is largely responsible for explosive growth of harmful algae in Lake Erie. Agencies also should work faster to identify newer types of contamination, such as fire retardant chemicals, and develop strategies for limiting them, the report says."

John Flesher reports for the Associated Press November 28, 2017.