Mast bill would make Army Corps too-toxic Lake O discharges to St. Lucie River illegal

Will Congress pass a law making Lake Okeechobee discharges illegal if the water contains excessively toxic algae? And what's the alternative if the lake gets too high?

Those are among the unanswered questions arising from a Treasure Coast lawmaker's plan to file such legislation Wednesday, according to a news release.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast's proposed legislation would prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from discharging Lake O water containing toxic algal blooms with 8 parts per billion microcystin or more to the St. Lucie estuary and Indian River Lagoon. 

The EPA standard "forced the (Army Corps) to admit to knowingly discharging toxic water to the coastal estuaries," Mast said in a news release. "Despite acknowledging that these releases are toxic, the (Army Corps) has continued to poison Americans."

Lake Okeechobee discharges

Mast's office has not responded to TCPalm's questions about the proposed bill and alternatives to discharges when the Army Corps thinks the lake level is too high and a potential threat to the Herbert Hoover Dike failing and flooding surrounding cities.

2018 study: The air becomes as toxic as the water

An Army Corps spokesperson declined to answer TCPalm's question about what alternatives the agency would have to discharges, should the legislation pass.

"We typically refrain from commenting on proposed legislation or items under debate in the legislative branch," John Campbell said in an email. "With that in mind, we’ll decline this opportunity for comment as well."

2018 study:People breathed in toxins, didn't pee them out

The lake management plan that dictates the level, which the Army Corps is in the process of revising, says it should be between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet during the hurricane season, from June 1-Nov. 30. The level was 13.7 feet Tuesday. The highest the lake has been in recent history was 18.02 feet in 2004, despite discharges.

Toxicity levels

The toxicity level in Mast's bill is derived from the Environmental Protection Agency’s human health standard. The EPA increased the level from 4 parts per billion in 2019.

Not everyone agrees on that threshold. The World Health Organization considers 1 part per billion dangerous to drink and 10 parts per billion hazardous to touch.

More: 12 times during 2018 bloom when water was "too toxic"

Gov. Ron DeSantis' Florida Blue-Green Algae Task Force said any amount of toxins in the water should prompt a public warning. 

"There's no safe exposure to toxins," said task force member James Sullivan, executive director of Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Fort Pierce. "If there's a reliable detection (of toxins in the water), the number doesn't mean anything. To be the most cautious for the public, if you detect toxins, you put out an advisory."

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection does not have a public safety standard for microcystin.

In 2019, three environmental nonprofits — the Calusa Waterkeeper, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation — petitioned DEP to adopt the EPA’s more conservative threshold of 4 parts per billion.

A DEP spokesperson said the Blue-Green Algae Task Force discussed the EPA’s new and higher recommended standard for the first time July 29.

DEP and the task force are "in the process of evaluating EPA’s water quality recreational criteria to ensure that Florida implements the most effective and state-appropriate recreational advisory protocols," Weesam Khoury emailed TCPalm. "To date, no state has adopted recreational water quality criteria for cyanotoxins. However, the task force is actively engaging with (DEP) on the best approach forward for Florida."

Public health

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

Biologist:Don't eat fish from water containing cyanobacteria

Mast, a Palm City Republican, said his bill would protect Florida's economy, environment and public health from the damages caused by Lake Okeechobee discharges.

"For decades, Florida’s coastal communities have been on the receiving end of toxic discharges, including recent discharges that have tested more than 60 times more toxic than the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for human contact," Mast said in a news release.    

Mast, along with Friends of the Everglades and Captains For Clean Water, will have a news conference about his bill at 10 a.m. Wednesday behind his Stuart office at Flagler Park, 171 S.W. Flagler Ave.

More:Algae bloom is 15 times too toxic

More: Small bloom contains 120 parts per billion of microcystin

More: Lake O bloom over 3 times too toxic to touch

Support Enterprise and Investigations Editor Cheryl Smith's work with a TCPalm subscription. Contact her at cheryl.smith@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1331 or @TCPalmCheryl on Twitter and Facebook.