Lake Okeechobee
Floor Speech
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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.
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 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.
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