The University of Toledo’s 22nd Annual Great Lakes Water Conference will address threats to public health posed by algae, forever chemicals called PFAS and lead in our waters, as well as the lack of access to safe water.

Titled “Public Health and Water,” the conference will be conducted online as a live webinar from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28.

The conference is sponsored by the UToledo College of Law and its Legal Institute of the Great Lakes.

The conference will feature panels of experts addressing multiple water-based public health problems, including harmful algal blooms and the key toxin they produce in Lake Erie and beyond; per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called “forever chemicals” that are widespread in surface and ground waters; a new federal regulation governing lead in public drinking water; and lack of access by some communities to public drinking water systems.

Experts include:

• Ken Kilbert, a professor of law and director of the UToledo Legal Institute of the Great Lakes;
• David Kennedy, an associate professor of medicine at UToledo;
• Evan Zoldan, a professor of law at UToledo;
• Abigail Hendershott, executive director of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy;
• Erica Bloom, toxics campaign director at the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor;
• Suzanne Novak, a senior attorney with Earthjustice in New York; and
• Michele Okoh, assistant professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

Registration for the half-day conference is free for the public and $55 for attorneys seeking 3.0 hours of Ohio Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit.

For more information about the conference and to register by Wednesday, Oct. 26, visit the event’s webpage.