Stay updated with breaking news from Corp florida. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Army Corps awards first EAA reservoir contract to Phillips & Jordan tcpalm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tcpalm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lake O discharges: Sugar farmers sue Army Corps over EAA reservoir tcpalm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tcpalm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lake Okeechobee stakeholders lobbying Army Corps for best LOSOM plan tcpalm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tcpalm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
View Comments As the threat of blue-green algae looms on Lake Okeechobee, Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast are lobbing pressure at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with determining when, where and how much lake water is sent east and west to coastal estuaries. In a letter sent Monday to Corps leadership in Washington D.C., DeSantis told the agency it "must do better" to manage the lake and prevent releases carrying potentially toxic cyanobacteria to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers. Mast, known to speak outwardly against the federal agency, Tuesday urged President Biden to intervene in the mounting environmental mess by directing top Corps leadership to visit South Florida and "address the situation personally."
Mast, who represents Martin, St. Lucie and parts of Palm Beach counties, urged Pahokee Mayor Keith Babb to "provide alternative housing options" for residents living around the marina until the water is determined to be safe. Algae in the marina contained 860 parts per billion of the toxin microsystin, state data updated Wednesday shows. At 8 parts per billion, microsystin makes water too hazardous to touch, ingest or inhale for people, pets and wildlife, the EPA says. Babb had not responded to Mast's letter as of Thursday afternoon, spokesperson Brad Stewart said. Nor had he answered TCPalm's questions about how many residents would have to be relocated and where they could possibly go.
Lake Okeechobee's level is slowly rising, which could mean discharges to the St. Lucie River will resume as South Florida heads into the summer rainy season. The W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam floodgates will increase Lake O discharges west to the Caloosahatchee River again starting this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday. But discharges east to the St. Lucie River will not resume yet. Highly toxic algae that's blooming at the Port Mayaca floodgates "certainly factored into the decision" to not send Lake O water east toward Stuart, said Col. Andrew Kelly, the Corps' Florida commander. "No doubt about it."