Kaptur, Portman, Brown, Latta, Joyce Call for Full NASA Support on Algal Bloom Warning System

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, along with Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and Representatives Bob Latta and David Joyce, sent a letter to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) calling for the agency to fund a new algal bloom warning system that uses satellite data to track toxic and nuisance algal blooms.

“The importance of this program to our region, to the Great Lakes system as a whole, and many other places worldwide where water contaminants are a threat, substantiates this program’s timely renewal,” the letter reads. “We respectfully urge full funding and technical support to advance scientific understanding and drinking water protection through the Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) in Lake Erie program.”

Rep. Kaptur recently announced plans for a $3.6 million algal bloom early warning system using data and analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Under the current plan, the NASA Glenn facility would provide approximately $1 million of the funding for this initiative.

The letter calls for NASA to fund the algal bloom warning system at the national level, which would enable NASA Glenn to retain its funding for use on numerous other local projects. For example, the facility’s "Adopt a City" program matches “small and mid-size manufacturers with subject matter experts from NASA Glenn to help companies solve challenges they were experiencing with a new or existing product. NASA Glenn provided up to 40 hours of pro bono assistance to each company, the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County made low interest loans available to companies needing financial assistance, while MAGNET served as the project coordinator helping the following eight manufacturers in 2012.”

###