Palm Beach County Reef Rescue writes EarthRehab:
South Florida Sewage Battle Heats Up
The sewage versus coral reef controversy continues to rage in south Florida. In a tradition of denial that would make the tobacco industry proud, consultants paid by the south Florida sewer plants, armed with the best junk science money can buy, conduct a misinformation campaign trying to convince the public there is no connection between a half billion gallons a day of sewage pumped onto coral reefs and their decline.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has finally had enough and drafted legislation to close all six of south Florida ocean sewer pipes. The proposal now sits on the desk of the Governor.
Florida Today writes of Red Tide in Brevard County:
Thousands of dead mullet washed up between Jetty Park and Cocoa Beach Pier this morning, apparently the result of the ongoing red tide algae blooming off Brevard County.Matt Kramer of Cape Canaveral bumped into the floating mass of dead fish during his morning swim Wednesday.
“He, like, swam into it,” his wife, Kathleen Kramer said.
Water samples collected early this week in Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County contained no K. brevis — the red tide algae organism. Samples from the Mosquito Lagoon in Volusia County had K. brevis concentrations ranging from present to medium. Fish kills and respiratory irritation have been reported along portions of Volusia and Brevard.
Florida Fish & Wildlife Report:
East Region: Water samples collected this week detected high concentrations of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, alongshore of Volusia County near Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach. Additional samples collected alongshore of St. Johns County and in the Mosquito Lagoon (Brevard County) contained K. brevis concentrations ranging from not present to very low. No samples were collected this week from Nassau, Duval or Flagler counties. Fish kills and respiratory irritation have been reported in the New Smyrna Beach area of Volusia County. Respiratory irritation was also reported near Satellite Beach (Brevard County),however no samples were received from that area.
Brevard County News 13 writes:
State test results showed no red tide in Brevard County, but coughing and sneezing beachgoers disagreed.So a new round of testing is under way. State testing was conducted in the extreme northern end of the county.Folks in the Cocoa Beach area said that missed the high algae concentrations there.Add to that reports of fish kills around Cape Canaveral, and that drove the state to conduct more tests.It is not usual for them to test right in Cocoa Beach, but that is where folks have said the problem is.
“It gets all in your throat, all in your lungs — respiratory problems,” explained Chris Houser, a local surfer. “You get fatigued, and the red tide doubles and triples it.”
the politics of Green 