“DO NOT RECREATE IN THE ALGAE”

“DO NOT RECREATE IN THE ALGAE” says

Martin County, Fl- The Martin County Board of Commissioners held an emergency meeting Tuesday morning to discuss water quality in the county. (discharges started June 1)

“DO NOT RECREATE IN THE ALGAE”  said Drew Bartlett who was on hand from the Florida DEP.

Mr Bartlett was also questioned by Commissioner Sarah Heard regarding statements made saying the microcystis is not toxic in Lake Okeechobee but only becomes toxic when it enters the c-44 canal. He said “DO NOT RECREATE IN THE ALGAE.”

So lets do this. Lets listen to him.

County staff along with U.S. Rep. Brian Mast spoke at the event.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Bill Nelson were also represented by staff.

Mark Perry patiently explained (for the millionth time)that it’s not just the algae its the discharges.

“Why don’t our warning signs look like warning signs? It is your civic duty to protect us, our children, and everyone who visits this county, every single day Where have you been? Why has it taken two months to hold this meeting?” said #toxic18 admin and local clean water advocate Kim Streiber.

Mary Pullen Radabaugh brought three albums with documentation of 3 blooms. She works at Central Marine in Stuart. Mary and her staff have had to work surrounded by the microcystis. “When are we going to make a difference?” She asked.

You already make a difference Mary along with everyone who is involved. Now we need our BOCC and local city commissioners to step up.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Treasurecoast/videos/1986752134723826/

I decided to pass because there were people more important there that needed to speak. This was my speech.

My name is cyndi lenz. I am one of the founders of #toxic18

One of the issues is we have two thoughts around here.

The attitude  of the county and the city is to ignore the issue and not protect the citizens.

Our attitude is that you warn people and you protect them and that the citizens come first.

Your attitude is to sweep things under the rugs. Ours is to bring things out in the open.

You attitude is to blame us for the cyanobacteria.

Ours is to work together to fix the issue. You all know that even if the water was crystal clear it would still destroy our estuary.  It has destroyed the most biodiverse estuary in North America. Our objective is to decrease the discharges period end of story. Our objective is to support the reservoir that is needed to bring water south to recharge the aquifer and go into Florida bay. I’m not sure why you do not support this. You are holding up the works.

Another option that has been brought up is for the lake to be lowered during the dry season. This would help the lake heal and it would leave room for unexpected rain and decrease the need for discharges. We will hear more on that next week.

Every one in this room should be working towards the same goal. I’ m not sure why we have to  fight so hard to fix this issue with our own board of county commissioners. It’s like you do not care about the citizens at all and take your marching orders from someone else. I’m not sure why the economic council and the chambers are against fixing this issue. Its like they take their marching orders from someone else. I’m not sure why the city of Stuart is against fixing this issue. It’s like they work for someone else.

We need all these entities to work together to fix this issue once and for all. Support the Southern reservoir. Support lowering the lake in the dry season. Fix this issue once and for all. Support the citizens of Martin. Support our Martin county environment. #fixthewater #stopthedischarges #saveourriver

 

There is more video and i will post a link when MCBOCC posts.

Photo by local wildlife photographer Rebecca Fatzinger.

TreasureCoast

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  • Posted 6 years ago

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