Lawsuit: Endangered species harmed by Lake O discharges

Monday (Apr. 20th), three conservation organizations filed a notice of their intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to acknowledge the harms that toxic releases from Lake Okeechobee pose to protected wildlife like sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Calusa Waterkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance say the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to fully consider how the toxic algae and other pollutants from the Corps’ lake discharges harm wildlife, especially when they occur at the same time as red tide.

“Toxic algae blooms are already forming on Lake Okeechobee, yet federal regulators refuse to admit that lake discharges harm marine wildlife,” stated Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a press release sent out by the organization. “We can’t have a repeat of years past when Floridians witnessed piles of dead and dying wildlife, thick, guacamole water and the empty promises from federal regulators. We won’t stop until the agencies right this course.”