密歇根新闻广播 托莱多的一些人不信任他们的自来水

 

If you hit the grocery stores in the Toledo area a couple weeks ago, hoping to pick up some bottled water, you were out of luck.

Several stores completely sold out, thanks to rumors¹ that the city would soon be issuing another "do not drink" advisory² for tap water. It didn't.

But water pollution in the Maumee River and western Lake Erie is creating harmful blooms so large, you can literally³ see them from space.

And Toledo residents can see them anytime they walk downtown by the river or head to the lakefront.

Trying to quell⁴ the rumors

If you're city council member Kurt Young, that means you take to Facebook Live, showing yourself drinking the water.

"Right here is the tap," he says, walking over to the sink in his law office. "I'm running some wonderful Toledo water here. Ok? There you go, right from the tap. And again," he adds, taking two big gulps⁵ of the water, "it's clean. It's safe."

Three years ago, toxic⁶ blooms in Lake Erie got so bad, some 400,000 people in the Toledo area (which includes several communities in southeast Michigan) couldn't drink or bathe in their tap water for almost three days.

Those blooms, which you've probably seen if you've been around Lake Erie the last several summers, look slimy and green. They're created when nutrients⁷ from fertilizer, wastewater, and manure⁸ run off the land and into the waterways.

And after Toledo's 2014 water crisis, some people's trust never came back.

Some sticking to bottled water, just in case

Ask Teri Thomas how she feels about her tap water, and she cracks up. "I avoid it at all costs!" she laughs, describing how she and her pets only drink bottled water now.

Marilyn Sheck and her husband are in the same boat. Every summer, they see the water turn green, and they buy cases of bottled water, trying to avoid tap as much as their budget allows.

"I do use it for laundry," Sheck says. "And we do shower. And I do cook with it reluctantly, but it's too expensive to cook with [bottled water]."

For Haley Gardner, an ESL teacher with an autoimmune disease, she says she's trying to take extra precautions because of her compromised immune system.

"I thought, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I mean, not that the government is terrible, but there's so many instances, just looking at Flint, of people saying that the water is fine and people taking them at their word. But then it turns out that the water isn't fine."

It's not a perfect solution, they all say. The cost of bottled water is a pain, and they wince⁹ about the environmental toll¹⁰.

But Gardner says it feels like the right thing for now.

"Actually, I was listening to Michigan Radio, it was an interview with Jack¹¹ Lessenberry. He was talking about the situation, and I forget the man's name, but the journalist who originally broke the story back in 2014, he said he and his family aren't drinking the water… I thought, I'd rather just take the extra precaution."

She's talking about Tom Henry, the environment reporter for the Toledo Blade. And he wants to be very clear:

"I don't opt¹² out. We drink tap water. It's perfectly¹³ fine," he says via email. "What I tried to explain to Jack was that - during [the toxic bloom season] when the city uses more treatment chemicals - I fill up gallon jugs¹⁴ of water sold through machines at Kroger (39 cents a gallon) and Meijer (44 cents a gallon) as a precaution and for my own personal preference.

"That's still city tap water, but it's much more purified than what comes out of faucets¹⁵. Those machines run city tap water through reverse osmosis (the best treatment - kidney dialysis centers use them), ozone¹⁶ treatment and ultraviolet light.

"It's a precaution, but also helps with taste and odors… Plus, water straight out of the tap here sometimes has a light film on it… I'm told it's harmless, but would rather not have that sheen if I can avoid it."

If you live in Toledo, you probably know this guy

After the 2014 crisis, Toledo invested in a massive upgrade to its water treatment plant, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into improvements and repairs.

Ed Moore runs the city's utilities department. And the last few years, he's been on TV news pretty regularly to talk about water issues.

"So people recognize me, they do want to have that conversation," he says. That includes strangers approaching him in grocery stores. "And the first thing I tell them is, your personal preference is your personal preference."

If you want to drink bottled water, Ed Moore is not going to stop you. But now, he says the city can safely treat Lake Erie source water, and remove the toxins¹⁸ from those green blooms.

Even this recent summer, when the blooms were more toxic than last year. That toxin¹⁷ is called microcystin: it's a contaminant that, the EPA warns, can hurt your liver and irritate your skin and eyes if you're exposed to enough of it.

And ever since that water crisis in 2014, Ed Moore says, "we have not had any detects of microcystin in our tap water."

The city regularly updates its online water quality dashboard, where the dial goes from "clear" to "watch," and all the way up to "do not drink."

They've got water testing data up online, and streaming video out on the buoy¹⁹ in Lake Erie at the intake²⁰ site.

But for all the city's new safety and transparency efforts, it's just tough to convince everyone when the river and lake are green.

Kurt Young, the city council member who did the Facebook video, says he gets it. Just this week, he was at a council meeting when someone handed him a bottle of green, untreated Lake Erie tap water.

"And I had our security person take it away from me, because that's potentially got microcystin in it, which is a toxin," he says. "So I understand why people are afraid of it. That's why we're so concerned about it. We know what we're up against."

What they're up against is all the phosphorus running into Lake Erie, from cities and towns nowhere near Toledo – and beyond the state of Ohio.

Toledo's leaders want the state, and the federal EPA, to declare this part of Lake Erie "impaired²¹." They're hoping that might lead to new regulations for farms and urban areas, forcing them to cut down the pollution creating these toxic blooms.

Right now, most of those efforts are voluntary. Michigan, Ohio and Ontario have agreed to cut phosphorus by 40% by 2025.

And this weekend, the Great Lakes governors and Ontario's premier²² are getting together in Buffalo²³, where they'll be talking about how those efforts are going so far.

1 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

5 gulps   

n.一大口（尤指液体）( gulp的名词复数 )v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的第三人称单数 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He often gulps down a sob. 他经常忍气吞声地生活。 来自辞典例句
• JERRY: Why don't you make a point with your own doctor? (George gulps) What's wrong? 杰瑞：你为啥不对你自个儿的医生表明立场？有啥问题吗？ 来自互联网

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

9 wince   

n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• His smile soon modified to a wince.他的微笑很快就成了脸部肌肉的抽搐。

10 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

13 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

14 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

15 faucets   

n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Water faucets shall be chrome-plated type with ball valve. 水龙头外表为铬镀层。 来自互联网
• The plumber came that afternoon and fixed the faucets in some minutes. 当天下午，管子工来了，几分钟内便把水龙头安装好。 来自互联网

16 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

17 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

18 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 buoy   

n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The party did little to buoy up her spirits.这次聚会并没有让她振作多少。
• The buoy floated back and forth in the shallow water.这个浮标在浅水里漂来漂去。

20 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

21 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

23 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。