PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio (AP) _ Ohio will make more money available next year for cities that fix up their drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.
The head of the state's Environmental Protection Agency says the agency will again offer $150 million in no-interest loans for upgrades.
The state a year ago rolled out a program offering the loans after toxins from Lake Erie contaminated the water supply in Toledo and left 400,000 people in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan without safe tap water for two days.
Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler said Friday that requests for money through the loan program exceeded what was available this year.
He says the EPA also is increasing funding for communities to fix failing septic systems and stopping sewage from seeping into waterways.
