[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6044-H6045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            LAKE OKEECHOBEE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Mast) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question of this body. I 
would like every Member of this body to think about this: What would 
you do if one of your neighbors each and every day was taking their 
garbage and throwing it over your fence into your yard? What would you 
do if that were the case?
  In the case of my community, it is not just the garbage of 
neighboring communities that enters its way into our community, it is 
toxic water pollution.
  So if somebody throwing garbage over your fence would infuriate you 
as an individual, then I would ask you to imagine how you would feel if 
your neighbor was knowingly poisoning the kids in your backyard, your 
children?
  I don't think that I know of words. I don't think I know of a four-
letter word that would describe this for me. I don't know of an emoji 
that I could text anybody. I don't know an emotion that I could use to 
adequately describe the feeling of having my community poisoned, 
knowingly and willingly, year after year after year.
  Now, the World Health Organization says that any amount greater than 
10 parts per billion microcystin algae is poison for humans and that it 
causes everything from nausea to liver disease. That is a pretty broad 
spectrum.
  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection just reported that 
the level released into our waters is more than 150 parts per billion.
  Let me say that one more time.
  The World Health Organization said that anything greater than 10 
parts per billion is poison. The water being released into my community 
that plays no role in producing this toxic water is being exposed to 
water that is more than 150 parts per billion, 15 times what is 
considered harmful to human health.

                              {time}  1015

  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to resume its poisoning 
operations later this week. As a result of that, I would like to ask 
three things:
  Number one, to the Department of Defense, who is currently conducting 
a systemwide review of its policies: Do not release one more drop of 
this poison water into my community, into Florida's Treasure Coast, 
into the epicenter of population for hundreds of thousands of people. 
Our community did not create the problem or the conditions leading to 
this poison, and we must not be forced to have the health of each of 
our citizens put at risk as a result of someone else's garbage being 
thrown into our yard--or, rather, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
releasing it into our backyard.
  Number two, I would ask this of our President: The situation has 
resulted in a state of emergency in years past, and the Governor has 
already declared a state of emergency for Florida and a number of 
counties, including for Martin and St. Lucie Counties. I call for a 
Federal state of emergency to be declared right now.
  I also ask this. Previous administrations had this request come 
before them, and those administrations did nothing. I would ask this of 
our administration: Bring in the cavalry. Bring in every bit of water 
cleanup operation you can find that can be yielded by FEMA, by the 
Coast Guard, by Fish and Wildlife, by anybody else that can

[[Page H6045]]

go out there and clean this poison, these toxins out of our waterways.
  Number three, to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Federal court 
cases demand that everything--all the water that goes south of Lake 
Okeechobee, where this toxic water stems from--not be exposed to 
anything greater than 10 parts per billion of phosphorous. That 
actually slows the rate of water flow to the south, where that water 
actually belongs, where God designed that water to go. Yet my community 
is getting toxic water with parts greater than 150 parts per billion, 
which is, as I said, 15 times greater than what is safe for human 
contact. That is not equitable. That is not right.
  So I would ask that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who has the 
emergency authority granted to them under section 7-13 when there are 
pollution emergencies: Use that authority now to stop poisoning my 
community, to protect the hundreds of thousands of people on the 
Treasure Coast of Florida, and send that dirty, toxic water south.

                          ____________________