More state money headed to Brevard for red tide cleanup, as toxic algae starts to move on along coast

J.D. Gallop
Florida Today

The state is directing nearly $75,000 to help with red tide clean up in Brevard County as Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say the toxic blooms that caused fish kills along Florida’s eastern coast may be moving on.

“We do expect it to be transient,” said Eric Sutton, the executive director of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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Western winds may help push the algae bloom – which last week left dead fish scattered along Melbourne and Cocoa Beach – further away from the shoreline.

“It’s gotten patchy…It’s not this continuous blanket around the coast, it’s spotty,” Sutton pointed out, adding that water samples were continually being taken by scientists and citizen volunteers across the state.

Volunteers cleaning up Satellite Beach on Thursday.

Sutton spoke about red tide and its impact during a visit to Brevard County on Wednesday. He also spoke to county representatives from Florida’s east coast.

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The midweek status report on red tide shows that along Florida's east coast, the algae, K. brevis, was observed to be 'high' on the Space and Treasure coasts. Compared to last week, the concentrations increased in parts of Brevard, Indian River, and Martin counties, state officials report. 

The impact of red tide was particularly hard in Indian River County where beaches were closed – they have since reopened – and a contractor was hired out to clean away fish carcasses. In Brevard, volunteers and jail inmates hit the sands to clear away the rotting marine life. Warnings were also issued for those with respiratory problems to be watchful for eye and throat irritation.

In Brevard, Satellite Beach tested among the highest beaches on the Space Coast for red tide earlier this month. The red tide blooms can last for months.

More:Red tide hits more species of fish

The current bloom began a year ago in Southwest Florida where tons of dead fish were reported, raising concerns about the lingering environmental impact. 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has committed $1.3 million in grants to several Atlantic coastal counties. Brevard is receiving almost $75,000 while Indian River County is receiving $522,000 and $100,000 goes to St. Lucie County.

In July, the state provided $12.4 million in funding to assist communities with red tide. The money was used to mobilize responses from laboratories monitoring the water to testing different technologies to ease the problem of red tide.

Sutton also talked about the state’s response and noted that red tide has been a naturally occurring phenomenon recorded early on in the state’s history.

“It’s a common occurrence on the west coast of Florida,” Sutton said.

He also said that there is some research showing that nutrients – likely from storm runoff – could be impacting red tide. “What we don’t know about is how (red tide) moves around,” he said. “There’s a lot of speculation.”

Drew Bartlett, the deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, was also at the meeting and said the issue of excess nutrient runoff from septic tanks will need to be addressed.

Gov. Rick Scott — locked in a senate campaign — issued a statement Wednesday about the money. 

“As red tide has affected Florida’s coastlines, we have taken action to combat the effects of this natural phenomenon. To date, more than $12 (million) has been provided to communities impacted by red tide and the additional funding we are directing today will go directly to local governments as they combat red tide’s effects.," Scott wrote.

"As we fight red tide, nothing is more important than supporting local efforts to protect our environment and we will continue to provide every available resource to mitigate this issue and help our communities recover.”

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com and Twitter @JDGallop