PAHOKEE The bloom spread like an aging bruise at the Pahokee Marina this month, turning green goo on the water’s surface to shades of teal as cyanobacteria cells broke open, releasing toxins 100 times higher than what’s considered harmful to humans.
In the nooks and crannies along the edges of Lake Okeechobee, algae-sensing NOAA satellite images tell a similar story or show there’s potential for a blue-green algae bloom as summer days stretch and temperatures warm.
On Wednesday morning, Florida Department of Environmental Protection water test results from the marina came back showing 860 parts per billion, or ppb, of the toxin microcystin – a potent poison that can kill pets that swim in it and cause respiratory, skin and digestion problems in humans. A mid-April toxin reading of 120 ppb was measured at Port Mayaca.
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By Joel Malkin
Apr 28, 2021
The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County issued a Health Alert over the harmful toxic algae bloom that s plaguing Lake Okeechobee.
Health officials took a water sample on Monday from the area surrounding the Pahokee Marina and found it contains highly toxic bacteria.
A Florida congressman took a tour of the area on Wednesday. The smell. The taste. I probably spit ten times as I walked over there.
U.S. Representative Brian Mast calls the algae bloom at the Pahokee Marina poison and is pushing to make discharges of such toxins against federal law. He says words like poison and toxic are not hyperbole. The algae actually meets levels determined by the Department of Environmental Protection.
By Joel Malkin
Apr 28, 2021
The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County issued a Health Alert over the harmful toxic algae bloom that s plaguing Lake Okeechobee.
Health officials took a water sample on Monday from the area surrounding the Pahokee Marina and found it contains highly toxic bacteria.
A Florida congressman took a tour of the area on Wednesday. The smell. The taste. I probably spit ten times as I walked over there.
U.S. Representative Brian Mast calls the algae bloom at the Pahokee Marina poison and is pushing to make discharges of such toxins against federal law. He says words like poison and toxic are not hyperbole. The algae actually meets levels determined by the Department of Environmental Protection.