More than 10 billion gallons per day of toxic run off from Lake Okeechobee are poisoning the Indian River Lagoon, the St. Lucie and Calosahatchee, emptying onto both east and west coasts of Florida in a flow permitted by the State of Florida and US Army Corps of Engineers.
Historic winter rains are pushing a tide of filth along both coasts like diarrhea coating the rim of a toilet bowl.
This is not by accident-- for that, thank the political equation that keeps Sugar Billionaires' feet dry in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Not "El Nino". This is our slice of the planet puking the cumulative filth of unsustainable farming practices.
Today the US Army Corps of Engineers is opening the flood gates of hell, to express maximum volume of toxic water into nearby estuaries.
Citizens who can't believe their river-front properties are being trashed AGAIN to save Big Sugar also can't breathe the noxious fumes escaping from the water management locks nearby. It is all about elections.
The only way to stop the catastrophe is to stop voting for elected officials supervising this tidal wave of destruction. Those officials include incoming Senate president Joe Negron.
The political status quo -- Republicans AND Democrats -- have been staring the solution in the face for decades: buy enough surface land storage to build marshes south of Lake Okeechobee adequate to the purpose of cleansing the pollution. Instead, the state and national interest in fixing Everglades is hostage to Big Sugar's greed.
Gov. Rick Scott and his chosen successor, Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam, are spinning bullshit to a fine art.
Every time the pubic has gotten close to buying sugar lands in the EAA adequate to the purpose of storing and cleansing (sugar's) Lake Okeechobee's fetid mess, Big Sugar launches another round of political arm-twisting in Tallahassee. Here is are two good views of what you, taxpayer and voter, are funding:
There are some excellent editorials adding to the mountain of words condemning mismanagement of water resources by the state and federal government: either ignored by your elected representatives to the Florida legislature and Congress or shuffled along in half-measures. The bottom line for Florida: keep taking half-steps to fixing the problem, and eventually you will get nowhere.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/indian-river-lagoon/health/lake-okeechobee-discharges-to-start--soon-2a657b77-b625-6872-e053-0100007f44b8-366869691.html
Historic winter rains are pushing a tide of filth along both coasts like diarrhea coating the rim of a toilet bowl.
This is not by accident-- for that, thank the political equation that keeps Sugar Billionaires' feet dry in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Not "El Nino". This is our slice of the planet puking the cumulative filth of unsustainable farming practices.
Today the US Army Corps of Engineers is opening the flood gates of hell, to express maximum volume of toxic water into nearby estuaries.
Citizens who can't believe their river-front properties are being trashed AGAIN to save Big Sugar also can't breathe the noxious fumes escaping from the water management locks nearby. It is all about elections.
The only way to stop the catastrophe is to stop voting for elected officials supervising this tidal wave of destruction. Those officials include incoming Senate president Joe Negron.
The political status quo -- Republicans AND Democrats -- have been staring the solution in the face for decades: buy enough surface land storage to build marshes south of Lake Okeechobee adequate to the purpose of cleansing the pollution. Instead, the state and national interest in fixing Everglades is hostage to Big Sugar's greed.
Gov. Rick Scott and his chosen successor, Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam, are spinning bullshit to a fine art.
Every time the pubic has gotten close to buying sugar lands in the EAA adequate to the purpose of storing and cleansing (sugar's) Lake Okeechobee's fetid mess, Big Sugar launches another round of political arm-twisting in Tallahassee. Here is are two good views of what you, taxpayer and voter, are funding:
There are some excellent editorials adding to the mountain of words condemning mismanagement of water resources by the state and federal government: either ignored by your elected representatives to the Florida legislature and Congress or shuffled along in half-measures. The bottom line for Florida: keep taking half-steps to fixing the problem, and eventually you will get nowhere.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/indian-river-lagoon/health/lake-okeechobee-discharges-to-start--soon-2a657b77-b625-6872-e053-0100007f44b8-366869691.html
10 comments:
This is very disheartening to see, even more so, since a solution was agreed upon.
Wait till tourists start canceling hotel rooms. And the NyPost puts this photo on the front page.
These GOP legislators and Scott who blocked purchase of lands in the Eveglades ag lands that would have absorbed these waters and who continue to protect Big Sugar and ag polluters will destroy our economy when our enviroment is ruined.
Two idiots walked into SFWMD and stated to the board (right After Katrina) that Lake Okeechobee was going to fail just like New Orleans. So ACOE did not start this mess the South Florida Water Management District did and people have just pushed blame on ACOE. The idiot is on the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Counsel. He is also the guy who said he could build 400 units on 1 (one) acre and not build the building taller than 4 stories. I just had to ask who would live in these coffins. DEP supposedly = water quality, SFWMD supposedly = water quantity, ACOE does what it is told to do. DEP and SFWMD came up with this fairy tale disaster the dike is falling. This is was and always will be another scare tactic another diversion from the real problems. The water from the north is 90% of the poison in Lake O. There is 9 feet of silt in Lake O. Get rid of Disney and Big Sugar. Sadly most do not get the real problems and the all go to Disney never caring where the flushed toilet goes...............
The water on Sanibel and Captiva is BROWN..REALLY BROWN--you can actually see the line as the fresh water invades the blue green gulf water.. reminds me of the amazon where the two rivers meet..people here are going nuts..impacting wild/sea life..killing sea grass...and negatively impacting tourism..people expect to see clear blue -green water NOT BROWN icky water..they are gong to ruin the eco-system here on this pristine island..REd tide no doubt will follow with massive fish kills littering the beaches here..top news stories here on every channel.
The local Tea party type officials here give lip service to cleaning it up.. but they should be up in Tally and in DC screaming their heads off..(guess they don’t want to anger their republican buddies..going to get worse before it gets better.
I lived in SW Florida for 13 years and had always dreamed of returning some day. Now, not so much. Very, very sad !!!
Please, please keep this dialog going. Let's have a groundswell of action take place to get our elected officials to buy up sugarland and restore clean water to the Everglades. Let's get more people in other parts of Florida involved. The politicians in North FL must be made aware that they are also guilty of this mess. All media outlets in Florida should stay on board on this! Thanks for staying with this, Gimlet.
Please keep blogging this subject!! Thanks for your great coverage. Let's get all Florida media on board. Most important subject!!!
A bloom of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, persists along Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and northern Collier counties in Southwest Florida. Respiratory irritation continues to be reported in several bloom areas of Southwest Florida including Siesta Key Beach, Longboat Key, and Englewood Beach. Fish kills have also been reported along Longboat Key and Englewood Beach. Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides show southern/alongshore movement of bloom waters in Southwest Florida over the next 3 days.
have worked on STA44 project near indiantown. this project needs mentioned here because old farmland is being prepared now to treat tainted water before that water heads to Atlantic. blue goose, KLG and the other (drilling) contractors are doing some good work there to ensure no additional problems are created.
About 20 years ago, I interviewed a scientist from the South Florida Water Management District who told me, "The solution to pollution, is dilution. Once the water hits the sea, it's just more water." How do you fight that mindset? The "who cares about the destruction it causes along the way" philosophy? You fight it by publishing a list of every politician who voted to use Amendment 1 money for anything other than environmental protection, and then voting every one of those scumbags out of office.
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