It's "Summer Slime Season" in Florida: Campaign asks Florida to take action
Posted April 26, 2012 07:33 am | Public News Service
By
Stephanie Carroll Carson
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The familiar sight of green waterways has some residents and environmentalists seeing red in Florida.
Links of interest:
•
EarthJustice
•
Florida Water Coalition
The "summer slime" visible in Florida's water is toxic algae - caused, according to scientists by industrial pollution, sewage, manure and fertilizer.
While many Floridians are aware of the slime, a
television campaign launched this week hopes to educate
them on where it comes from and what can be done about
it.
Monica Reimer, an Earthjustice attorney, says she won't
swim in Florida waterways anymore because she "knows too
much."
"People need to just learn that they can't really use
the waters like they used to - and to me, that's just
shocking. I grew up in Florida. I think people assume
they can go to the beach."
The algae appears in Florida's waterways as temperatures
rise. The ad encourages Floridians to write to President
Obama and demand that the Environmental Protection
Agency step in and fully enforce the Clean Water Act in
the state.
As a native Floridian, Reimer says she's concerned that
people may be too accepting of the annual summer slime,
because it's all they remember.
"This isn't normal. This isn't natural. This is the
result of lax regulation and over-fertilization."
A few weeks ago, an early "summer slime" outbreak in the
Fort Myers area prompted the Lee County Health
Department to issue a warning for people to avoid
contact with waterways in the county, just as the beach
season is beginning.
Photos: Courtesy of the Florida Water Coalition