Our country’s best leaders know that they have a responsibility to the American people, and they take that responsibility seriously.

Unfortunately, that leadership is sorely missing at the Army Corps right now.  While Army Corps personnel stationed at Port Mayaca are breathing in toxic air for hours on end, the head of the Army Corps is spending his time in a cushy Washington, D.C. office refusing to take responsibility for the working conditions in Florida. 

According to a recent study by the University of Florida, once airborne, toxins in algae can travel up to 10 miles and linger for hours. The Army Corps station at Port Mayaca sits just feet away from algae that this week tested more than 15 times too toxic for human contact. 

Despite this overwhelming and damning evidence, when I asked Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon about these working conditions during a Congressional hearing this week, he completely deflected responsibility.

Watch the clip here:

I take the safety of the people in our community very seriously, and I am calling on the Army Corps to do the same.