Red tide and coastal pollution campaign

BY MARTI DALTRY The Sierra Club, Fort Myers

Summertime in Florida means rampant growth of all plants, trees, shrubs and grass, fueled by plentiful sun and regularly scheduled showers. Gardeners in Southwest Florida are busy tending their yards - trimming, weeding, and applying pesticides and fertilizer.

However, our daily deluges wash grass clippings, pesticides and fertilizer into our waterways, canals and rivers. This provides the ideal food for all types of toxic and nuisance algae such as red tide, red drift algae and blue-green algae to grow. In addition, excess nutrient runoff from animal waste, seepage from over-burdened sewage and septic tank systems, agriculture and industrial runoff all create a nutrient-laden stew that research strongly suggests is responsible for the increased intensity and duration of some harmful algal blooms in Southwest Florida. These blooms can kill fish and other marine life. Furthermore, they jeopardize the health of coastal residents and visitors, closing down beaches and negatively impacting our tourist economy.

Recently the South Florida Water Management District board voted not to backpump any more polluted water into Lake Okeechobee; an action that was applauded by environmental groups across the state. The Sierra Club - Calusa Group, was among the 30 organizations and individuals who made public comments on this issue, and presented their opposition to this harmful practice. However, additional public policies need to be implemented to insure that not only the Lake but all our waterways are not compromised in regards to water quality. It is imperative that our waters be restored and protected from future degradation.

The Sierra Club has launched a Red Tide and Coastal Pollution Campaign to help reduce excessive nutrient runoff in Southwest Florida. Through partnerships with residents, environmental and civic groups, local government, church groups, homeowners associations and schools, Southwest Florida can take several common sense steps to solving these problems of coastal pollution. Public education is one component, such as teaching newcomers and long-term residents alike how to achieve a Florida Friendly Yard and incorporating water conservation techniques to existing yards.

Another crucial step is passing local fertilizer ordinances that protect our waterways by prohibiting fertilizing during the rainy season, using time-release or slow-release fertilizers that contain no phosphorus, requiring buffer zones between yard and water and training and certification in best management practices for lawn care professionals. Sanibel and the city of Naples have already passed fertilizer ordinances. On Aug. 27, the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners made a landmark decision, passing a countywide fertilizer ordinance that 29 local businesses, community and environmental organizations supported. The Sarasota Fertilizer Ordinance and the Sanibel Ordinance provide excellent models that other coastal communities need to adopt in order to reduce our footprint on the environment.

From an environmental perspective, from an economic perspective and from a health perspective now is the time to be proactive and take the necessary steps to reduce coastal pollution. This problem of red tide, red drift and blue-green algae is not a South Florida problem, nor is it a state problem; it is a global problem. Throughout our nation and the world, along the coasts or on inland lakes, our beaches are closed and our water resources are threatened by harmful algal blooms. In Quebec, Canada, 98 lakes have been affected by blue-green algae, prompting members of legislature to propose a bill that bans phosphates in dishwashing and clothes detergents. Worldwide, ocean dead zones, where little or no oxygen and therefore no marine life exist, have increased to over 200 in number.

The impact on our coastal environment, both from individuals and businesses, for good or bad, is significant. The environmental slogan from the 1970s, "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the pollution," is still true. The challenges are great but solutions can be found; better public and private practices can be implemented. It just takes that first step and it begins with you and with me. Our natural water resources, our river and its watershed, our beaches and the Gulf of Mexico are Southwest Florida's greatest natural treasures and should be protected for future generations to enjoy. ¦

- Marti Daltry is the Regional Community

Organizer for the Fort Myers

office of the Sierra Club. She can be

reached at 246-3478 or Marti.daltry@

sierraclub.org.