Hamilton County commissioners are opposed to a change in river quality standards.
The board said so in a resolution as the Ohio River Sanitation Commission considers an update to standards for the Ohio River. The update would bring ORSANCO's standards in line with EPA Clean Water Act.
County Commissioner Denise Driehaus says the more that can be done to protect the river, the better. "We've seen algae blooms recently on the river and I'm very concerned about the quality of water. I feel like the protections need to be in place."
Board President Todd Portune says Hamilton County's interactions with the EPA led him to support current ORSANCO standards. "Within different EPA regions, even within the same region, you sometimes have different interpretations of standards, laws, rules and regulations," he said. "It's probably enough to suggest that relying solely on the fact that there are other guidelines in place may not be the panacea that the commission believes that it might otherwise be."
ORSANCO commissioners will vote on the standards Thursday at a meeting in Lansing, West Virginia.
