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Lake Erie Research Paper

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Since the 1960’s, Lake Erie has been recovering from its unhealthy state and it’s public status. Lake Erie was terribly polluted that lead to fires and algae which was something locals were not happy about. Lake Erie’s water even got to the point of restriction. Pollutants were being dumped and phosphorus, fertilizers and pesticides were leaking into rivers that would later lead into Lake Erie. “As a result of these pollutants, Lake Erie contained increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which contributed to eutrophication - a process that encourages the development of algal blooms.” (Rotman). Lake Erie was even known as the “burning river” or even the “dead lake”.

This was serious. Tons of locals could not use the water for hydration, bathing, water sports, washing clothes and pets, etc. So the Clean water Act was established. Too many pollutants including waste from sewers, phosphorus, fertilizers and pesticides were leaking into river. The Clean Water Act controls the amount of industrial dumping. Soon after that, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was in motion to decrease the amount of accessing pollutants. The agreement was between Canada and the United States to protect the Great Lakes. This process was a million dollar clean-up to improve monitoring water quality and the sewer system. …show more content…

Which is why it was a challenge to recover. But with a great amount of clean-up effort, Lake Erie was named a hub for fishing and recreation. This was a major achievement for Lake Erie because its restoration allowed a larger amount of fish to consume. Lake Erie is that kind of back-and-forth-situation. One minute it’s healthy but then it’s not, then it’s healthy again. It started out as an environmental disaster story. But because of it’s major efforts from local and state businesses and natural policymakers, it has come back to its healthy

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