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Rahm Calls on Mayors to Meet on Water Safety After Toledo 'Wakeup Call'

By Ted Cox | August 6, 2014 1:59pm
 Horacio Romero of Toledo, Ohio looks at algae in Lake Erie at Maumee Bay State Park August 4, 2014 in Oregon, Ohio. Toledo, Ohio area residents were once again able to drink tap water after a two-day ban due to algae-related toxins. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he wants to make sure "what happened in Toledo stays in Toledo."
Horacio Romero of Toledo, Ohio looks at algae in Lake Erie at Maumee Bay State Park August 4, 2014 in Oregon, Ohio. Toledo, Ohio area residents were once again able to drink tap water after a two-day ban due to algae-related toxins. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he wants to make sure "what happened in Toledo stays in Toledo."
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Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images; DNAinfo/Ted Cox

ENGLEWOOD — Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Wednesday for a conference of his counterparts on water safety around the Great Lakes to make sure "what happened in Toledo stays in Toledo."

The mayor said he had already been in contact with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy on "what's the battle plan" to prevent incidents like the Lake Erie algae outbreak that recently rendered the water undrinkable and unusable in Toledo, Ohio.

Emanuel said he expected McCarthy to visit Chicago on that subject, and called for a "conference of all the Great Lakes mayors on safe drinking water."

Emanuel said he was out to determine "how do we assure that what happened in Toledo stays in Toledo and doesn't affect Chicago, doesn't affect Racine, doesn't affect Milwaukee?

"What happened in Toledo should be a wakeup call. We can't rest because it didn't happen here. We have to get ahead of it so it never happens here."

Emanuel also addressed another wakeup call the city received in the form of reports of security breaches at the Jardine Water Purification Plant near Navy Pier. According to the Sun-Times, a security gate was broken for months, allowing unauthorized entries.

The mayor said security at the water plant is sound, in spite of what he called a "learning experience."

"They apprehended an individual," he said, adding that Jardine just completed an 1½-year security review "and got good marks."

He didn't minimize the issue, however, saying, "But just getting good marks is not good enough when it comes to safety and security." Emanuel said the city's water-processing plants would "have the security apparatus around them to ensure that nothing will happen."

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