Right now the priorities managing discharges from Lake Okeechobee prioritize special interests and everybody else while ignoring the Treasure Coast and the west coast. We're being taken advantage of and literally used as the septic tank for the rest of Florida, but we will not be ignored any longer!

This week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers testified before Congress (you can watch it here) and I pressed them on the need for a human health and safety standard to protect the Treasure Coast and the west coast from harmful discharges.

I also introduced a new bill - called the Stop Harmful Discharges Act - that would make public health and safety the top priority for the management of Lake Okeechobee. You can read more about that bill here.

The bottom line is that this must stop. Toxic algae can cause nausea, vomiting, liver disease and even death. Scientists have linked at least one other toxin in the algae to neurological diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's. Algae in the St. Lucie River has tested nearly 50 times more toxic than the level considered safe for human contact.

Together, I am confident that we can fix this broken system and send the water south!