The U.S. EPA has approved Ohio鈥檚 list of impaired waters, a disappointment to environmental groups that  a lawsuit against the agency last month.

Ohio鈥檚 list did not include the open waters of western Lake Erie 鈥� and groups including the National Wildlife Federation said that was a serious omission.

In a statement, the Federation鈥檚 Frank Szollosi said the federal agency's decision to approve Ohio鈥檚 list without the open waters prolongs Lake Erie鈥檚 problems.

鈥淓PA鈥檚 action preserves a status quo of insufficient action and lack of urgency in addressing one of the most vexing problems facing Lake Erie and the many people, communities, and businesses which rely on it for their drinking water, jobs, and way of life,鈥� he said.

鈥淭his decision continues kicking the can down the road while Lake Erie and the people and wildlife depending on it wait for solutions.鈥�

Ohio EPA director Craig Butler says he鈥檚 been in conversations with the federal agency about impairment, but is still awaiting answers.

鈥淲e鈥檝e also engaged with EPA about this impairment issue, asking them questions such as, 鈥業f we were to declare the open waters of Lake Erie impaired, what would be the metrics to say that they were un-impaired?鈥� They frankly couldn鈥檛 answer that question,鈥� Butler said.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality included its portion of Lake Erie on its biennial list of impaired waters. 

Once the federal agency approves an impairment designation, the state sets pollution limits for that body of water.

Michigan鈥檚 list was approved back in February.

鈥淭hey [Michigan] don鈥檛 have an answer to the question of how they would declare the open waters as unimpaired,鈥� said Butler. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an open question that they鈥檙e willing to accept and we were not.鈥�