Critics: State blind to pollution problem

The state is not doing its job when it comes to controlling and eliminating pollution loads in Florida's lakes, rivers and estuaries.

Those were the sentiments of several outspoken critics of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection during a meeting the state agency hosted Tuesday in Fort Myers to present the latest information on nitrogen loads in the Caloosahatchee River, and its approach to cleaning up excess nutrients.

"It's a lot of guesstimations and hoping and pray," said Linda Young, director of the Florida Clean Water Network, about DEP's pollution reduction program. "We keep seeing more and more stalling with no results."

The Caloosahatchee River was artificially connected to Lake Okeechobee as a way to drain the lake and the Everglades for development. Nutrients from farm fields north of Okeechobee flow into the lake and then are, at times, pumped down the river and into the estuary where nitrogen imbalances can kill sea grasses, fuel algal blooms and shut down oyster beds.

Young and others said they appreciate work done by Bonita Springs, the City of Fort Myers, Lee County and other local governments, but critics say the state is refusing to face the real pollution problem: Lake Okeechobee.

Many of the projects discussed Tuesday would remove anywhere from 1 pound of nitrogen per year to several thousand pounds per year. And while that may sound like a lot of nitrogen, millions of pounds flow down the Caloosahatchee annually.

"Twenty-four thousand pounds of nitrogen a day come from east of Franklin Lock (dam near Alva)," said former Lee commissioner Ray Judah, now with the Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition. "While these projects are great, we've lost focus on the real problem."

That 24,000 pounds per day translates into nearly 8.8 million pounds of nitrogen flowing from Lake Okeechobee and the upstream farming lands along the Caloosahatchee River a year.

DEP officials said the agency does not consider Lake Okeechobee to be impaired for nitrogen, so there is no official plan for identifying or removing nitrogen from the lake.

David Liccardi, with Bonita Springs public works, said the city is working toward a project that will use wood chips to remove some nitrogen. The project involves digging a large pit under an existing canal or waterway and filling that area with wood chips. The idea is that the wood chips will act like decaying organic matter, which is the natural way pollution is removed from water.

Liccardi said early estimates show wood chip reactors remove 80 percent or more of nitrogen. The nitrogen is absorbed by bacteria and released as a gas. This project could help Bonita Springs remove thousands of pounds of nitrogen each year.

"We need to take it one step further — implement the project and monitor it to see if we're correct on our assumptions," Liccardi said.

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