Does it work? Gov. DeSantis takes a look at pilot algae treatment in the Caloosahatchee

As an Israeli flag fluttered under Old Glory, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stood on a Caloosahatcte River shoreline far less foul than it was the week before.

He’d traveled to the W.P. Franklin Lock in Olga for a briefing on a pilot algae treatment begun there in May.

What’s made the difference in the water is Lake Guard Oxy, a powdered algaecide that uses oxygen to trigger cyanobacteria to commit ‘collective suicide,” as Eyal Harel, the CEO of BlueGreen Water Technologies characterizes it. Harel’s company, headquartered about 15 miles southwest of Jerusalem, has been dusting the water surrounding the lock regularly with the white granules since last month.

Cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, is a global problem, Harel says. Though the microorganisms occur naturally, overgrowth can choke waterways, and some produce potent toxins. Harel likens it to a bacterial infection. “If you don’t treat it, it just gets worse in frequency and severity,” he said.

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Florida has been scrambling to address the problem of catastrophic blooms, which can cause fish kills and have been linked to health problems ranging from rashes and intestinal distress to liver cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Too much algae can poison the region's tourist-focused economy as well, as demonstrated by the catastrophic 2018 season, when both red tide and blue-green algae lingered in area waterways.

DeSantis has made water quality an administrative priority. Days after coming to office, he signed a landmark executive order that included $2.5 billion to improve the state’s water quality — the highest level of restoration funding in Florida history — and a mandate to find innovative algae-fighting technology.

He also created a chief science officer position and a blue-green algae task force, on which Florida Gulf Coast University Mike Parsons serves.

Parsons, who teaches marine science as well as leading cyanobacteria research projects, watched a BlueGreen Water Technologies presentation at a 2019 real estate conference in Orlando.

He also talked with Harel about the technology, and came away impressed.

 "It seems promising. Hydrogen peroxide is very effective and there's no chemical residue from the hydrogen peroxide itself ... we'll just have to see in practice how it works," Parsons said.

DeSantis learned of Harel’s start-up during a business development visit to Israel shortly after he took office.

“When I did the trade mission in 2019, meeting with these companies, there was some really cool stuff, but this company (talked) about algae," he said. "I was like ‘whoa, whoa, whoa — I need that. So we started talking.”

Fast-forward two years, “It’s pretty interesting that trip has led to this,” DeSantis said,  gesturing at the river. “We have resources … we just need to be sure the technology works.”

Though he’d prefer that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers not discharge polluted Lake Okeechobee water to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, “We don’t control the discharges," DeSantis said.

"The state doesn’t manage that — that’s all the federal government,” he said. “So we have to do our best to mitigate (and) having technology like this is very important.”

Lake Guard Oxy’s floating granules are coated with time-release materials that cause  a “programmed cell death” Harel said, using “surgical, strategic applications of product in order to get an effect throughout the water body.”

The South Florida Water Management District secured the permits and is overseeing the project while the Corps manages lock operations.

At the lock, the week-to-week difference is striking. Gone are the stench and swirls of neon green algae. The water now is mud-colored and faintly grass-scented.

But environmental groups have raised questions about the effects the algaecide might have on wildlife, as well as the humans who apply the stuff.

DeSantis also wondered about that: “Have there been any negative side effects from the algaecide?” he asked Harel.

“No. It’s completely biodegradable,” Harel said. “The active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide, which breaks down into water and oxygen and it completely disappears from the environment in three to four hours.”

Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani hopes that's the case, because a federally listed smalltooth sawfish was documented swimming in the area the day before application began, and “The algaecide has also been applied to cyanobacteria within a mat of floating vegetation … where I have observed manatees often feeding on the same surface mat.”

On the product’s labeled precautions, the first line in the “environmental hazards” section reads, “This pesticide is toxic to birds. This product is highly toxic to bees and other beneficial insects exposed to direct contact on blooming crops or weeds.”

It also warns that people handling the stuff should use personal protective equipment, including eye shields and chemical-resistant gloves.

Yet as DeSantis and a gathered crowd watched, Harel tossed it into the river bare-handed and bare-faced, while workers applying it from a boat were similarly unprotected.

A call to the company asking about that was not immediately returned.

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Cassani has a number of other concerns about the product, including whether there’s  “consistent compliance with the EPA label for the product,” he wrote in an email after the event. “Much of the narrative today seemed to imply that use of the product had no restrictions in the context of how or under what circumstances it is applied to public waters.”

He says it’s important to note that what the EPA prints on a product’s package are not mere suggestions: “The label is the law for applying the product.”

Cassani contacted state water management agencies with his questions, but has yet to receive a response, he said.

South Florida Water Management District Spokesman Randy Smith says improving water quality and addressing harmful algal blooms are top priorities for the agency.

"The district is working with a highly specialized company to apply an EPA approved treatment that specifically targets toxic algae (cyanobacteria) in accordance with its approved label specifications," Smith wrote in an email. "We apply products consistently with their EPA label and the manufacturer’s recommendation. ... There are no restrictions for the public associated with the on-going treatment activities (and it's) certified for treatment in drinking water."

Another of Cassani's concerns is patriotic.

"I was also wondering if the Israeli product was the only product of its kind for mitigating cyanobacteria blooms,” he said. “Seems like we should be promoting the development and use of American products."