Agricultural Retailers Association President Daren Coppock welcomed the group to Northwest Ohio retailer The Anderson's palatial digs in Maumee, OH.
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New ARA Board Chair John Oster
Sitting ARA Board Chair John Oster of Morral Company (Morral, OH) welcomed attendees to his home state. He called the many multi-faceted efforts to improve water quality in the Buckeye State "a classic case of cooperation" and warned that "water quality issues (in ag) are not just an Ohio problem; it's an everyone problem."
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OABA President Chris Henney
Ohio Agribusiness Association (OABA) leader Chris Henney provided attendees with an update on regulatory issues in the Buckeye State. Said Henney of the water quality issues currently plaguing farmers and retailers in Ohio: "This issue is likely going to define my career, and everyone in this rooms' career as well; There's just a lot of unknowns around the Lake (Erie)."
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Amy Cornell, Indiana AgriBusiness Council
Amy Cornell trekked over from Indiana to update those in attendance on what ag industry leaders in Indiana are focusing on for 2018.
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Policy Director Richard Gupton
ARA's longest-tenured employee, Policy Director Richard Gupton, provided an update on the current status of many of ARA's lobbying efforts at the Federal level.
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Post-Meeting Tour: Toledo Water Works
A rather-fitting end to the meeting was had as the group toured Ground Zero of the now-infamous 2014 Toledo Water Crisis. In August of 2014, abnormally high levels of mycosystin, a toxin produced by algal blooms, were detected in water at the plant as the algal bloom engulfed the facilities water intake crib in Lake Erie. In an unprecedented act at the time, EPA administrators shut down the public water supply for the city of Toledo for three days due to the elevated mycosystin levels. The facility the group toured is shown on the above map as the "High Service Pumping Station and Filters."
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Toledo Water Works Map
Another shot from the group's post-meeting tour of the Toledo Water Works in Oregon, OH.
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Toledo Water Works
The group learned how Toledo Water Works engineers use these settling ponds to mix in lime, which bonds to various compounds in the water, allowing unwanted debris and compounds to settle out naturally.
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Toledo Water Works
Toledo Water Works, Oregon, OH.
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Toledo Water Works
Toledo Water Works Operations Administrator Jeff Calmes shows the group some mycosystin level data in the facilities' water quality testing lab.
September 11, 2018 
