HEALTH

Red tide, blue-green algae, Erin Brockovich, Lake Okeechobee discharges made news this week

Cheryl Smith
Treasure Coast Newspapers
Beachgoers are few and far between Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, at Bathtub Reef Beach in Stuart. Martin County beaches were left unguarded Sunday afternoon after lifeguards began coughing due to a possible airborne irritant. The FWC has begun testing local waters for red tide, a marine algae, which is lethal to marine life and dangerous for humans.

Florida's east coast beaches are plagued with a red tide algae bloom currents carried from the Gulf of Mexico, thorough the Florida Straits and up the Gulf Stream.

Where red tide's presence was confirmed this week, concentrations ranged from "low" in Martin County and "very low" in St. Lucie County. One "high" level was detected at Carlin Park in Palm Beach County, and many "medium" levels south of there.

More:List of affected beaches and link to statewide map

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has tested over 60 sites — inshore, offshore and in inland waters such as the Indian River Lagoon — in six counties from St. Lucie south to Monroe.

FWC map shows red tide test sites

Martin County lifeguards suffered respiratory problems and abandoned their posts Sept. 30, the day after Palm Beach County closed many beaches from Jupiter to Lake Worth.

Red tide is always in the Atlantic Ocean, but it rarely forms big blooms, as it commonly does in the Gulf of Mexico when nearshore pollution feeds it. The nitrogen and phosphorus mostly comes from fertilizer (farm and lawn), leaky septic tanks and Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie (east) and Caloosahatchee (west) rivers.

Red tide is very rare on the East Coast, with only eight events documented since the early 1950’s, according to the FWC.

"It's happened twice here in my experience," Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society for 40 years, said of the Treasure Coast.

"Once, in the 1980s, the air was so bad you couldn't walk across the dune onto Stuart Beach. It happened again in the early 1990s, but not quite as bad."

How is it harmful?

Red tide can produce toxins that kill fish and other marine animals by affecting their nervous systems.

Wave action can break open the algae cells and release toxins into the air that can give people respiratory problems (coughing, sneezing, tearing and an itchy throat), especially those with emphysema and asthma.

The FWC says most people can swim in red tide, but the Florida Department of Health advises people with severe or chronic respiratory conditions to avoid polluted areas.

Some people may experience eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath, when on the beach or in an area near a red tide bloom, particularly when winds are blowing onshore. If that happens to you, get out of the water and wash thoroughly with freshwater.

Eating oysters and/or clams that have accumulated red tide toxins can lead to neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, which is not fatal but can cause nausea, vomiting, partial paralysis, slurred speech and dizziness.

Your pets can suffer ill effects, too. If your dog swims in red tide, wash it immediately. Dogs often lick themselves after swimming and could consume toxins on their fur.

More:Nelson, Scott blame each other for water woes in U.S. Senate debate

More:Mast, Baer debate red tide, blue-green algae in U.S. House race

Lake Okeechobee discharges

The sometimes-toxic blue-green algae blooms that have plagued the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon since June 4 should start disappearing soon.

Algae-carrying Lake Okeechobee discharges stopped Friday, after pouring more than 80 billion gallons into the estuary since they began June 1, according to TCPalm estimates.

Related:Is the next idea to cut discharges wise or stupid?

They could start again, however, if hurricane season kicks up and poses a threat, said Lt. Col. Jennifer Reynolds, the Army Corps of Engineers' deputy commander for Florida.

"We continue to monitor tropical activity, including a disturbance in the Gulf (of Mexico) that could potentially bring additional rain to South Florida next week," she said Thursday.

The estuary, which is supposed to be a combination of freshwater and saltwater, essentially has been fresh for 120 days, according to Perry of the Oceanographic Society.

Erin Brockovich's Florida tour

Florida's water woes and cancer clusters brought environmental activist Erin Brockovich to the state to rally grassroots activists this week and last weekend.

On Wednesday, she visited Fort Myers, which has been hit all summer by a double whammy of red tide and blue-green algae blooms. She toured the Everglades Tuesday, Lake Okeechobee Monday, and Stuart and Fort Pierce Sept. 30.

That night, she had dinner with the St. Lucie County families of 11 people living in or near the 34982 ZIP code, who contracted glioblastoma, a rare, aggressive and often deadly form of brain cancer.

Saturday, she addressed a crowd of about 350 people, some of them cancer survivors, in the town of Satellite Beach, where toxins have been found in groundwater in and around nearby Patrick Air Force Base.

"I'm not going away," she told a crowd of about 100 people along the St. Lucie River in Stuart's Flagler Park. "I'm going to help you make sure we get this right."

Brockovich gained fame when, as a legal clerk, she built a case claiming a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. facility was polluting drinking water wells in and around the town of Hinkley, California, with the chemical hexavalent chromium.

The case was settled in 1996 with a $333 million payment by the power company. A 2000 movie about the case, titled "Erin Brockovich," featured actress Julia Roberts portraying Brockovich in an Oscar-winning performance.

"Florida has a lot of water issues," Brockovich told TCPalm before the event. "But I'm so happy to see these groups of people and politicians coming together and making what's become a real movement."

Red tide as of Oct. 5

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's levels of intensity are:

  • High: Causes respiratory irritation and fish kills, discolors water (1 million or more)
  • Medium: Causes respiratory irritation, fish kills probable (100,000 to 1 million)
  • Low: Causes respiratory irritation, fish kills possible (10,000 to 100,000)
  • Very low: possible respiratory irritation (1,000 to 10,000)

Indian River County

No water samples have been taken. No red tide reported or suspected.

St. Lucie County

St. Lucie-Indian River county line (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 3
Avalon (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 3
North Bridge (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 3
Veterans Memorial Park boat ramp (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 1
East Midway Road (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 1
Walton Rocks: Not present, Oct. 1
Ocean Bay Beach: Not present, Oct. 1
Herman's Bay Beach: Not present, Oct. 1
Normandy Beach: Not present, Oct. 1
Dollman Beach: Very low offshore, Oct. 1
Waveland: Very low, Oct. 1
Martin-St. Lucie county line: Very low, Oct. 1

Martin County

Martin-St. Lucie county line: Very low, Oct. 1
Jensen Beach: Not present, Oct. 3
Bathtub Beach: Very low, Oct. 3
Sandsprit Park (Manatee Pocket): Very low, Oct. 1 
Indian Riverside Park (Indian River Lagoon): Not present, Oct. 1
Jupiter Island: Low, Oct. 3
Blowing Rocks: Low, Oct. 3
Jupiter Point Marina: Low, Oct. 3

Palm Beach County

Coral Cove: Medium, Oct. 3
Jupiter Inlet (multiple locations, plus 2.1 miles offshore): Medium, Oct. 3
Jupiter Inlet Colony: Medium, Oct. 3
Pennock Point (Loxahatchee River): Medium, Oct. 3
A1A Bridge (west of Loxahatchee River): Medium, Oct. 3
Indiantown Road Bridge: Medium, Oct. 3
Carlin: High, Oct. 3
John D. MacArthur: Medium nearshore, Oct. 3; low offshore, Sept. 30
DuBois Park: Medium, Sept. 30
Jupiter Inlet: Medium nearshore, low 2.4 miles offshore, Sept. 30
Juno Beach: Medium nearshore, Oct. 3; low 2.7 miles offshore, Sept. 30
Ocean Reef Park: Medium, Oct. 3
Singer Island (2.2 miles out to sea): Low, Sept. 30
Phil Foster, Riviera Beach: Very low, Oct. 3
Palm Beach Inlet: Low, Sept. 30
Kreusler, Lake Worth: Medium, Oct. 3
Ocean Inlet: Medium, Oct. 3
Gulfstream: Low, Oct. 3
Spanish River: Medium, Oct. 3
Red Reef: Low (beach and Lake Wyman), Oct. 2
South Beach: Medium, Oct. 3
South Inlet: Medium, Oct. 3

Broward County

Deerfield Beach: Very low, Oct. 4
Hillsboro Inlet: Not present, Oct. 4
Pompano: Very low, Oct. 4
Lauderdale by the Sea: Very low, Oct. 4
Hugh Taylor Birch: Very low, Oct. 4
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson: Low, Oct. 4
Dania: Not present, Oct. 4
Hollywood: Very low, Oct. 4
Hallandale: Low, Oct. 4

Miami-Dade County

Haulover Park: Medium, Oct. 2
North Shore: Very low, Oct. 2
Miami Beach: Low offshore, very low nearshore, Oct. 2
Crandon Park, Key Biscayne: Low, Oct. 2

Monroe County (Florida Keys)

Blackwater Sound, Key Largo: Not present, Sept. 25
Coconut Cay, Marathon: Not present, Sept. 28
Sombrero Beach, Marathon: Not present, Sept. 28
Bahia Honda State Park: Not present, Sept. 30

Note: The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary reported sightings west of the Marquesas Keys and through the Dry Tortugas in mid-September.