|
Summer weather has arrived in south Florida with record temperatures and the threat of an active storm season on the horizon. Unfortunately, those of us who are residents of the Sunshine State have come to associate the next several months with an annual hazard of another kind — toxic algae.
Algae blooms that proliferate in Lake Okeechobee during the hot, rainy season are discharged to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and the Lake Worth Lagoon with disastrous consequences. The environmental and economic impacts of the resulting “Lost Summers” are bad enough — and we’ve yet to fully address the human health risks that these blooms bring. Despite the known and unknown dangers, the state of Florida’s approach to monitoring harmful algal blooms and issuing public alerts has been inadequate, characterized by fragmented and reactive measures.
Floridians deserve better. Where the state of Florida has failed, it’s time for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in.
Friends of the Everglades joined the Center for Biological Diversity, City of Stuart, Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Calusa Waterkeeper in a formal request filed today to the EPA that seeks new standards for cyanotoxins in Florida under the Clean Water Act. We’re committed to advocating for overdue legal solutions to protect the environment and public health, and we’re proud to join in this formal action.
| 
