Fueled by Pollution and Unsound Policies, Toxic Algae Overtakes Florida Beaches and Waterways

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Florida is in the midst of a still-unfolding water pollution catastrophe. Many formerly picture-perfect beaches and posh waterfront neighborhoods are now surreal toxic landscapes where the smell is so pungent, it can makeย youย nauseous.

Parts of South Florida are being inundated by harmful algal blooms, which affect both public health and marine life, including red tide (caused by the alga Karenia brevis)ย and blue-green algae (more precisely known as cyanobacteria, or Microcystis, which are technically bacteria but commonly referred to asย algae).

While both types of toxin-producing algae are normal parts of their environments, the crisis is not.ย Water pollution and climate change areย fueling this supersized toxic algaeย mess.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal near Cape Coral Yacht Club in Florida.
Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal near the Cape Coral Yacht Club inย Florida.

Fish kill on a beach in Boca Grande, Florida
Fish kill on a beach in Boca Grande,ย Florida.

The stateโ€™s water quality standards, friendly toward agriculture and real estate development, result in the release of an abundance of nutrientsย including phosphorusย and nitrogen into the water. This influx of growth-inducing nutrients causes marine and freshwater algae populations to explode in whatโ€™s called a โ€œbloom.โ€ These blooms can use up much of the oxygen in the water, causing aquatic life to die, in addition to the potentially fatal toxins these algaeย release.

Storm run-off fromย agricultural and urban landscapes, laden withย fertilizers and animal manure, and badly maintainedย septic systemsย contribute to the current crisis.ย On top of this,ย massive releases of polluted freshwater, laden with cyanobacteria, from Lake Okeechobee are ending up on both of the stateโ€™s coasts. And when the freshwater cyanobacteria hit the saltwater, they die, creating even more nutrients that feed the redย tide.ย 

Photographer's sneakers on a concrete seawall on the side of a toxic algae-filled canal in Cape Coral, Florida.
Photographerโ€™s sneakers on a concrete seawall on the side of a toxic algae-filled canal in Cape Coral,ย Florida.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in the water at the Sovereign Yacht Sales along the St. Lucie River in Stuart, Florida
Cyanobacteria in the water at the Sovereign Yacht Sales along the St. Lucie River in Stuart, Florida.

ย 
Toward the end of July, I went to Southern Florida to document the ongoing environmental disaster. I walked Gulf Coast beaches littered with dead fish and sea turtles. Red tide is impacting the coast from Sarasota to Marco Island. I also visited the cyanobacteria-filled canals in Cape Coral before heading to the east to the city of Stuart, a popular tourist destination on Floridaโ€™s Treasureย Coast.

Moving toย Paradise?

Jim and Sally Mullins, who live in Cape Coral,ย agreed to let me photograph their portrait on their boat ramp as long as I did it quickly โ€• cyanobacteria filled the canal.ย They bought their home there 10 years ago, and permanently relocated from Connecticut last year. But they regret it.ย The stench outside their home is unbearable, and they are considering moving elsewhere because of possibleย healthย implications.

Jim and Sally Mullins outside their home in Cape Coral, Florida
Jim and Sally Mullins outside of their home in Cape Coral,ย Florida.

The short-term health impacts of direct exposure to harmful algal blooms, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), include abdominal pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting and nausea, dry cough, diarrhea, blistering around the mouth, andย pneumonia.

The long-term effects are still unknown. Some scientists studying cyanobacteria ย suggest it could bring on a mysterious disease similar to Alzheimerโ€™s and Parkinsonโ€™s. Some of the same scientists also are investigating if the neurotoxin BMAA, produced by cyanobacteria, is the direct cause for the rise in cases of ALS (Lou Gehrigโ€™s disease) andย Alzheimerโ€™s.

Juergen Kreuzer, a charter boat captain who relocated from Germany to Cape Coral, is also questioning his decision to move there. Most of his clients are canceling their trips, and those who donโ€™t can no longer meet him atย his boat launch because he says it smells like a โ€œsewer filled with deadย things.โ€

A Global Problem Made Worse inย Florida

Crossing the state, I drove along the southern banks ofย Lake Okeechobee, stoppingย at locks in Canal Point in Palm Beach County, where Iย found an endless stream of algae-laden waterย being released. Atย Port Mayaca in Martin County, I watched green waves crash along the lakeโ€™sย banks.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal, released from Lake Okeechobee, headed toward the Treasure Coast.
Blue-greenย algae, orย cyanobacteria, in a canal at Canal Point, released from Lakeย Okeechobee, headed toward the Treasureย Coast.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in Lake Okeechobee
Cyanobacteria in Lake Okeechobee seen from Port Mayaca,ย Florida.

Toxic algal blooms are not unique to Florida.ย They haveย become problematic in other parts of the world as temperatures rise and water pollution worsens.ย Inย Toledo, Ohio, a bloom inย Lakeย Erieย caused a tap water ban in nearby towns in 2014; the next year, the coast of Qingdao in China was hit with an algaeย bloom.ย 

Unique to Floridaโ€™s toxic algae problem are water releases from Lake Okeechobee, the countryโ€™s second largest freshwater lake, which sits north of the Everglades,ย between the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic. At times this summer, 90 percent of the lakeโ€™s surface was covered with the toxic algae. The shallow lake is an ideal breeding ground for toxic algae blooms because they feed off the nutrients in water pollution from dairy farms, beef operations, and vegetable row crops to the north, andย industrial-sized sugar-cane fields to theย south.

Alligator swimming in algae-filled canal connected to lock in Canal Point, Florida.
Alligator swimming in a toxic algae-filled canal connected to the lock in Canal Point,ย Florida.

Lake Okeechobeeโ€™s water level is controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.ย When the water level gets too high, as it did in late May this year, the Corps releases water to the east andย west toย prevent flooding.ย The toxic algae-filled water is released into theย Caloosahatchee River leading west to Fort Myers, and into the St. Lucie River heading east toย Stuart.ย 

The release of billions of gallons of water was paused briefly after public outcry, when canals in Fort Myers and Cape Coral were inundated with green slime in June. Theย canals in Stuart are also being affected, but the impacts on the east coast came later and have not been as widespread as on the westย coast.ย 

Dead fish trapped in the cyanobacteria in a canal in Cape Coral, Florida.
Dead fish trapped in the cyanobacteriaย in a canal in Cape Coral,ย Florida.

Though heavy rainfall from Hurricane Irma last fall and above-average rainfallย this spring made it imperative for the Corps to act to avoid flooding, those living near the polluted water and algae infestations donโ€™tย think the government is doing enough to protect them from the toxic brew filling theirย canals.ย 

Stuck Between a Lake and a Hardย Place

Since I left Florida, the crisis has gotten worse. There is no quick fix for the problem, a point clearly made at a July 31 pubic meeting held by theย Corps about the water levels ofย Lakeย Okeechobee.ย 

Lt. Col. Jennifer Reynolds, a deputy district engineer for the Corps,ย addressed and took questions from a crowd of more than 300.ย She explained thatย when the lakeโ€™s water level approaches 15 feet above sea level, the Corps mustย release water. A major rain storm could lead to catastrophic flooding and the loss of lives andย property.

When it comes to pollution in the lake, she said:ย โ€œThe state is responsible for setting and maintainingย the water quality standards.โ€ย After beingย asked if cutting off the flow of nutrients into the lake would solve the problem,ย Reynolds responded, โ€œAbsolutely.ย The best way for us to curb algae growth is to get rid of the nutrients inย the water.โ€

As for a fix to the South Florida algae crisis, Reynolds explained thatย the federal and state governments are working on building a watershed south of the lake to hold additional water. That would mean less of Lake Okeechobeeโ€™s water, and its toxic cyanobacteria, would need to be released to the east and west.ย She said that thereย are dozens of otherย projects requiring billions in funding in the years ahead. But none of them are quick fixes. Some are being planned through 2030 and beyond.

In the short term,ย Reynolds called for reducing the flow of nutrients into the lake, but regulating water quality standards in Florida has been an uphill battle. Earthjustice suedย the EPA on behalf ofย several state and national environmental groups, to force measurable pollution limits in 2008.ย As part of a settlement in 2009, the EPA agreed to set enforceable, legal limits on the pollution that generates toxic slime inย Floridaโ€™sย waterways, but the standards were rescinded before they were implemented, after the state challenged the EPAโ€™sย decree.ย 

Voting for Cleanย Water

The Florida residents I spoke to are all paying close attention to candidatesโ€™ stances on the toxic algae crisis. And the non-partisan group bullsugar.org, which advocates for clean water, is looking to make the upcoming elections about a single issue: cleanย water.ย ย 

Many advocates for clean water, including Calusa Waterkeeperโ€™s John Cassani, point to the overall failure of the stateโ€™s water management system and a lack of water pollution standards as major factors creating theย nightmarish landscapes: beaches littered with dead fish and canals lined with fancy homes and boats,that are socked in by thick layers of florescent green and blueย algae.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal near the Cape Coral Yacht Club in Florida.
Cyanobacteriaย in a canal near the Cape Coral Yacht Club inย Florida.

Juergen Kreuzer sits on the end of his boat with pirate flags in an algae-filled canal in Cape Coral, Florida.
Juergen Kreuzer, on his boat at the end of a toxic algae filled canal ย in Cape Coral,ย Florida.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott is challenging Democratic Senator Bill Nelson for one of Floridaโ€™s Senate seats this fall. Though Scott declared a state of emergency over the algae bloom, which allows the federal government to fast-track the fortification ofย a dike protectingย Lake Okeechobee, he has played a role in weakening regulations that protect water. He also severely cut the stateโ€™s environmental regulatory agency by slashing the agencyโ€™s staff and budget and tapped industry-friendly people to runย it.

Captain Shannon Hoeckel and Areila Spurgeon with a dead sea turtle found on a beach in Boca Grande, Florida.
Capt. Shannon Hoeckel and Areila Spurgeon with a dead sea turtle found on the beach in Boca Grande.ย Florida.

Capt. Shannon Hoeckel of Boca Grande, an island in the Gulf with exclusive beaches and a world-renowned fishing spot, is warning his clients not to come and is returning their deposits, though it hurts his business. He said it is the moral thing to do: โ€œYou canโ€™t let people come visit โ€• especially notย children.โ€

He plans to vote for whoever he thinks will best protect theย water.

Main image: Sunset over a canal in Cape Coral, Florida, filled with cyanobacteria, or blue green algae.ย Credit: All photos by Julie Dermansky forย DeSmog

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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