Well this is just a mess. Why the National media has not picked it up is a mystery to me.
Take a look at our beaches and how our wildlife and human health is being affected due to the runoff of Lake Okeechobee. Don’t go near the water … !!! Emergency meetings being held and Scott is passing the buck. He could at least show up at the meetings.
x YouTube Video x YouTube Video.STUART, Fla. - Commissioners in Martin County held an emergency meeting Tuesday in response to the algae crisis.
People demanded answers, but the county is caught in the cross-hairs and says there isn’t much they can do about the discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
RELATED: More Toxic Water coverage
Residents who attended the meeting demanded action for the algae, which has taken over waterways from the Treasure Coast to the Palm Beaches.
New video from Chopper 5 Tuesday morning showed algae traveling from the C-51 canal to Lake Clarke Shores in Palm Beach County.
The severity of the situation was apparent during Tuesday’s meeting as residents voiced their displeasure.
This is very serious as it is affecting not only wildlife but the health of it’s citizens.
It's gone beyond a fishery problem. It's gone beyond an ecological problem. It's a human health problem, and it's a legacy problem. These toxins aren't only in the water now, they remain in the sediment. They remain in the soils, remain in the shoreline, remain in the fish. It's hard to live here now," said one speaker at the meeting.
The Army Corp of Engineers is charged with monitoring and controlling the discharges, which first caused the blue-green algae blooms on May 13.
The algae has since closed beaches, overtaken waterways and caused overwhelming concern about what is being done about it.
The Army Corp of Engineers has communicated with the county to let them know that they will be at the Association of Counties meeting soon. It was also addressed that this issue is affecting counties on Florida's west coast.
I spoke today to Adam Sakrin concerning the problem. Adam is running for congress in the 27th district and concerned for all ecological problems in Florida. Adam gave me this exact quote regarding the situation.It is caused by microorganisms that bloom in the water, and like most critical environmental issues today, it is being willfully ignored by virtually all levels of our government. More troubling, there is significant evidence suggesting the algae situation will get even worse as the effects of climate change progress.
Lax environmental regulations, rampant pollution and a general indifference to the scientific community by Florida's Republican leadership has allowed deadly bacteria to destroy our beautiful coastline, threaten our public health, and damage essential sectors of our economy. Today, at least four public beaches on Florida's east coast remain closed while researchers test samples of the algae. If toxic, it could create and release toxins into the air that can cause respiratory problems and brain disease in humans, and in the water it can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, with the potential to significantly harm Florida's iconic oyster and shellfish industry. We cannot sit idly and watch South Florida become the next Flint. Reasonable Floridians overwhelmingly agree with the scientific community consensus and demand our government at all levels react to these existential environmental crises with the appropriate level of concern and urgency.
I then called and spoke in length to
Dr. Alina Valdez who is running for the congressional seat in 25th District.
I will be writing on her candidacy very soon. I wanted the health issue impact of all this and I quote
The respiratory system is being affected greatly with all of this pollution and relaxing of our environmental laws. Rick Scott does not care about people. He especially does not care for the poor fisherman or low wage worker getting sick by all of this. CLIMATE CHANGE… SHALL I DARE SAY IT? This is all part of Climate change. It is time to recognize we are in dangerous times due to the ignorance of the people who refuse to admit to Climate Change and it is here. I am a doctor and I treat the indigent and poor and they are getting sick. This is not good for the wildlife and it it bad on humans. YOU could not pay me to take a swim in our Florida oceans and Gulf.
Well there you have the opinions of two democratic congressional contenders and they are hopping mad about all of this slush and legislators that do not care about the people. As I said from the beginning regarding all of these viruses and bacteria filled waters..this is a mess. Of course we have republicans running around focusing on Zika while our water is in such a mess right now. This is happening right now in plain sight. The Zika virus is important but I think this affects more and right now. It won’t affect Scott until he feels his pocketbook getting lighter. Of course the more people get sick..the more money for big Pharma and his hospitals.
You can find out more about Adam from my write up on him yesterday. www.dailykos.com/… .