[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 114 (Monday, July 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4832-S4834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Algae Blooms in Florida

  Madam President, I am here to talk about a condition that is in the 
State of Florida which is not a very good one.
  What has happened is the accumulation of hot weather and extra 
nutrients in the water, aided and abetted by the release of fresh water 
as Lake Okeechobee rises. That water is having to be released because 
of the pressure on the dike. Excess water is released to the west in 
the Caloosahatchee River and to the east in the St. Lucie River, and 
all of that has created a condition--with the humidity and the heat of 
the summer--in which the water is so fully laden with nutrients that 
algae starts to grow, then it starts to bloom, and then it starts to 
get excessive. It is toxic. It is slimy. It is called blue-green algae, 
and the bloom is spreading over those waterways.
  As a matter of fact, there are a lot of waterways in Florida that 
have an overgrowth of algae because of the excess nutrients in this 
water. This is particularly acute to the east of Lake Okeechobee and to 
the west of Lake Okeechobee.
  This past week, this Senator went from one coast to the other. I 
started in Fort Myers examining the Caloosahatchee River and talking 
with the elected leadership and environmental leadership. I then flew 
on to the lake, landing at the Pahokee Airport. I went to the Belle 
Glade Marina along with my colleague from Florida, Congressman Alcee 
Hastings. That is his district.
  We had a townhall meeting there and were able to announce some good 
news. Congressman Hastings, Senator Rubio, and I have requested the use 
of disaster relief money for the hurricanes--the last tranche was 
upward of $80 billion. We asked to use a portion of that to help us 
speed up the construction of

[[Page S4833]]

the dike so it can be reinforced to hold more lake water without the 
communities around the lake being threatened that the dike might give 
way due to the pressure of the higher water levels of the lake.
  At that meeting, we passed on the announcement from the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers and the White House, having utilized part of that 
money, their recommendation to utilize that $80 billion as a source of 
money to speed up the dike construction.
  That was a very welcome announcement, but it is only part of what has 
to be done. The algae is still there. The one thing I heard over and 
over from the people is, they are worried about the potential health 
risks associated with the algae bloom. They feel they are not getting 
timely, accurate information on what to look for and what they should 
do if a bloom takes place in the waterways in their particular area.
  I want to give some idea of the situation by showing these pictures, 
which are from 2 years ago, but they are fairly accurate as to what we 
are seeing today. You can see the blue-green algae located where some 
boats are tied up. You can see the effects of this same kind of algae 
out in more of a brackish water estuary. We are talking about some 
serious growth of algae. That is not pretty.
  Let me state that when this stuff starts rotting, the smell is awful. 
The question is, What are the health effects of this? The people are 
demanding answers. They want to know, and they should know.
  One young woman in Fort Myers told me something that was really 
rather surprising. She is a diver, and she had been 20 miles out in the 
Gulf of Mexico. There she encountered the slimy green algae that is 
usually in more of the freshwater and perhaps brackish waterways. She 
said she couldn't believe it.
  She told me she was worried that she may have been exposed to not 
just the toxic algae but also the red tide as well. That is another 
phenomenon that occurs in waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The red tide 
periodically appears. It is a toxin, and it is very noxious to human 
beings when it is breathed in. Of course, what the young woman who is a 
diver way out 20 miles in the Gulf of Mexico is saying is, when that 
blue-green algae meets the red tide, is that going to stimulate the red 
tide to release more toxins? We don't know.
  We have the same questions from residents in Stuart, FL. After I left 
Lake Okeechobee, I flew to Stuart, which is on the Atlantic coast. I 
started on the gulf coast and went to the Atlantic coast by late 
afternoon, where they were worried as well about the potential 
consequences to their health from the algae.
  Officials in Stuart were putting up signs in the emergency rooms 
warning people about the possible health risks. They were urging them 
to report any algae sightings or exposure as soon as possible. Even 
with those precautions, we still don't know the full picture of what 
the algae could mean for people's long-term health.
  That is why I have written to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the CDC, to ask that they provide the people of Florida 
with the information they need, including the warning signs they need 
to look out for, the immediate health risk associated with swimming in 
or near the algae, or even breathing it in. That is just the short-term 
effect.
  I have also asked the CDC to look into the possible long-term effects 
of the algae exposure so we can begin to take whatever protective steps 
now in order to protect the people living in and around these blooms.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that my letter to the 
Centers for Disease Control be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                     Washington, DC, July 9, 2018.
     Hon. Robert Redfield,
     Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
         Atlanta, GA.
       Dear Director Redfield: As toxic, neon-green algae blooms 
     once again coat Lake Okeechobee and spread to Florida's 
     coasts, I'm writing to ask for emergency federal assistance 
     to properly communicate the potential health risks associated 
     with algae exposure, and a study of the long-term health 
     effects, especially for vulnerable populations like children, 
     the elderly, and fishermen who spend their days on the water. 
     As I travel across Florida, I continue to hear from residents 
     and officials that there is confusion about the potential 
     health impacts of living near or coming into contact with 
     algae, including cyanobacteria and Karenia brevis.
       Last week, I visited with residents and community leaders 
     in Fort Myers and Stuart, Florida, to discuss the algae 
     plaguing the local waterways there and I repeatedly heard the 
     same message: we need trustworthy, timely information about 
     the potential health consequences of exposure to toxic algae 
     for prolonged periods.
       During the ``lost summer'' of 2016, the blue-green algae 
     that overtook much of Florida's east coast was severe enough 
     to garner national attention. Yet even then, local officials 
     and residents say they did not receive enough information 
     from state agencies about the quality of the water or the 
     risks of exposure to toxic algae.
       Floridians and tourists need to know with certainty whether 
     or not the water is safe. If the Centers for Disease Control 
     and Prevention needs a specific request from the state of 
     Florida to provide assistance, and has not yet received one, 
     please let me know. I appreciate your attention to this time-
     sensitive issue.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Bill Nelson.

  Mr. NELSON. Just last week, the Army Corps of Engineers announced 
that additional money, the $514 million in disaster supplemental 
funding for the Herbert Hoover Dike, and that will complete that 
project earlier than 2025, accelerating completion to 2022, as Senator 
Rubio and I had requested. This funding is on top of what we have 
already spent over a decade and a half--$1 billion shoring up the dike. 
This didn't happen just yesterday. This happened 15, 20 years ago, and 
we have already spent $1 billion.

  We are going to get it accelerated all the way to 2022. That is 
coming in time. While getting that additional funding to speed up work 
on the dike is certainly good news, it is important to remember that 
fixing the dike is important for public safety, to protect the 
communities that are living around Lake Okeechobee. It is not the 
solution to ending the discharges, and it is not solving the algae 
crisis. It is one step on the road to try to stop all of this algae 
bloom that occurs every year.
  Once that dike is fully repaired, the Army Corps then expects to be 
able to store about 6 more inches of water. In a big lake like that, 
that is a lot of water. That is good news because that flexibility 
helps, especially during the algae bloom breakouts, because you can 
hold more water back in the lake and you don't have to dump it into the 
St. Lucie or the Caloosahatchee. The only way to end those damaging 
discharges is to move ahead with Everglades restoration projects north 
of the lake, as well as the projects designed to take water from the 
lake, clean it, and send it south, as Mother Nature initially intended 
it to go.
  That is why we need to get critical projects like the Central 
Everglades Planning Project and the new reservoir in the Everglades 
Agricultural Area south of the lake moving as fast as we can. To do 
that, we need more than the small amount the President has requested 
for next year. In fact, we need upward of $200 million a year to really 
start making progress in restoring the Everglades.
  Voters in Florida overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment to 
dedicate a portion of the documentary stamp tax to land acquisition for 
environmental projects. Florida is sensitive to the environment, and 
that is why the voters voted an increase in the documentary stamp tax 
for themselves. What happened is that the government of the State of 
Florida hasn't been using that money for what the people intended when 
they voted in a referendum. Instead of using that money as it was 
intended, the State of Florida is trying to divert it to other 
purposes, such as filling in budget shortages or employees' salaries or 
other items unrelated to environmental expenses, and now we have suits 
that have tied all that up in litigation. It is further distracting 
from the overall goal of restoring the Everglades.
  The Federal Government should take the lead and do what is right. We 
should move forward and fully fund the ongoing Everglades restoration 
projects. We also need to get the House of Representatives to pass the 
harmful algal bloom reauthorization bill, which was introduced by this 
Senator, and the Senate passed it unanimously a year ago. This bill 
would reauthorize

[[Page S4834]]

funding for the Federal task force that is studying the harmful algae 
blooms like the one I have been describing here.
  I hope every Member of the Florida delegation--especially those who 
are in areas where water is allowing algae to bloom--will join this 
Senator in calling on the Speaker of the House to take up and pass this 
important bill in the House. We need to do it fast while all of this 
algae is blooming, and that would be before the House goes out in 
recess for their August break. Time is critical.
  Again, I want to show you what this algae looks like. You can see 
these thick chunks on the surface of the water where it almost looks 
like a blue-green carpet. When that algae dies, you can't believe the 
smell that comes from it. We must act, and the time to act is now.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.