WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18) today pressed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for answers as to whether there are any scenarios in which Lake Okeechobee water would be considered “too polluted, dirty or toxic to send into the St. Lucie River.”  If not, he writes, “please state for the record that there is no level of harm to human health on the Treasure Coast resulting from Lake Okeechobee discharges that you would find to be impermissible.”

The question stems from a letter originally sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 20, 2018 in which he first posed the question.  In a response on July 5, 2018 (excerpt attached), the Army Corps did not identify a single scenario where the water would be too polluted, dirty or toxic to send into the St. Lucie River. 

The letter is below and attached:

 

July 17, 2018

 

COL Jason A. Kirk

District Commander

Jacksonville District

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

701 San Marco Boulevard

Jacksonville, FL 32207

 

Dear Colonel Kirk:

Thank you for your reply correspondence dated July 5, 2018; however, important questions were not answered.  On June 20, 2018, I asked: “At what point, if any, is water flowing from Lake Okeechobee via the S-308 too polluted, dirty, or toxic to send into the St. Lucie River?”  With the ongoing toxic algae crisis destroying the Treasure Coast of Florida, this is important information.

Your answer states that “addressing water quality is not a federally authorized project purpose,” but this is not the whole truth.  Section 7-13 of the Water Control Plan For Water Conservation Areas, Everglades National Park, and ENP-South Dade Conveyance System states that, under emergency conditions when there are “pollution problems,” water control actions “necessary to abate the problem are taken immediately.”  Our toxic algae crisis undoubtedly should qualify as an emergency “pollution problem.”

Yet, in your answer to my question, you refused to identify even one scenario in which you would consider the water “too polluted, dirty or toxic to send into the St. Lucie River.”  So, I ask again: can you identify, using specific examples, scenarios where the water would be too polluted, dirty or toxic to send into the St. Lucie River?  If there are none, please state for the record that there is no level of harm to human health on the Treasure Coast resulting from Lake Okeechobee discharges that you would find to be impermissible. 

Your immediate reply is expected and appreciated.