Rep. Brian Mast wants Corps to prioritize public health during Lake Okeechobee discharges

The Treasure Coast's congressman wants public health and safety, including preventing toxic algae blooms, to be the primary concern in managing Lake Okeechobee levels. 

The Stop Harmful Discharges Act that Rep. Brian Mast plans to file in Congress Tuesday night defines "public health and safety" as managing lake levels in a way that: 

• Minimizes potential of toxic blue-green algae blooms 
• Prevents discharges containing toxins into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers
• Ensures enough water moves south to the Everglades, Florida Bay and the Caloosahatchee watershed.

"Our health and human safety here is not mentioned at all when it comes to Lake Okeechobee, and that has to stop," the Palm City Republican said at a Tuesday news conference to unveil his bill. "What we're demanding is that we be given priority as well." 

More: TCPalm's complete coverage of the algae crisis

The Army Corps of Engineers currently considers these factors: 

• Flood control, to avoid a breach of the Herbert Hoover Dike around the lake
• Drinking water supply for communities south of the lake
• Navigation
• Fish and wildlife
• Regional groundwater and salinity control
• Recreation

Other provisions

Mast's bill also would:

• Require the Army secretary and National Academies of Science to study lake pollution and nutrient-loading 
• Not change any water projects included in the Central Everglades Restoration Plan or the Central Everglades Planning Project that are current or will be authorized before the end of this year. 
• Not alter the water rights agreement between the state and the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, or the Miccosukee tribe's access to water.

What's next? 

Mast said he hopes one of Florida's two senators, either Republican Marco Rubio or Democrat Bill Nelson, will introduce their own version of the bill in the U.S. Senate. 

Mast's office sent the bill to both senators' offices Tuesday morning.

The Army Corps does not comment on pending legislation, Corps spokesman John Campbell said

TCPalm is awaiting a response from both senators' offices.

Alex Gillen of Bullsugar.org said he hopes the senators also include Mast's bill in the Water Resources and Development Act, which is the Army Corps' approved list of water projects. The House approved WRDA in June but the Senate hasn't voted on it.

"It's a question of walking the walk," Gillen said. "If the senators truly want to fix these issues, they need to get on board."

Many Treasure Coast environmentalists and clean-water advocates support Mast's bill, and one said he hopes the community contacts lawmakers to urge its passage. 

"Our needs as a community are about our health and about our economy," said Zack Jud, the Florida Oceanographic Society's education director. "We need to start seeing those needs addressed in decisions related to managing Lake Okeechobee's discharges."

Toxic algae

Highly toxic blue-green algae — nearly 50 times the level considered hazardous — was found in an Aug. 23 sample taken from the C-44 (St. Lucie Canal), where Lake O water enters the St. Lucie River.

A sample taken just feet away from there last week was not toxic, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Microcystin, the toxin in the blue-green algae, can cause nausea and vomiting if ingested and rashes and hay fever symptoms if touched or inhaled. Drinking water with the toxin can cause long-term liver disease.

Midterm campaign

Mast is running for re-election against Democrat Lauren Baer in the Nov. 6 election. 

She said his response is "too little, too late," pointing out he filed the bill as his re-election campaign ramped up rather than earlier in his two-year term. 

“If we are ever going to prevent algae crises from destroying our ecosystem and economy, we need to do more than pass a half-measure bill on discharges," Baer said. "We must put hard limits on pollutants entering our water, hold big sugar accountable, fully authorize and fund the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Act, restore the flow of water south to the Everglades, and take meaningful action to stop climate change."