Environmental Groups File Suit to Force Cleanup of Caloosahatchee

Tallahassee, FL — On behalf of Florida Wildlife Federation, Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Earthjustice filed lawsuit today in federal court against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because the agency is repeatedly violating water protection laws in Southwest Florida’s Caloosahatchee River.

The Caloosahatchee—officially designated as a public drinking water source—has been covered with slimy green algae outbreaks eight of the past eleven years, and an outbreak slimed the river just last week. The algae releases a nauseating smell, gives people respiratory problems, causes massive fish kills and harms many wild species.

The Glades, Hendry, and Lee County public health departments have had to issue multiple public health warnings saying that that neither people nor animals should come into contact with the water, drink it, or eat the fish. Lee County’s Olga drinking water plant, which draws from the river and is supposed to serve 40,000 people, has had to shut down repeatedly because the water is unfit to drink, even after extensive treatment.

Lee County’s Olga drinking water plant, which draws from the river and is supposed to serve 40,000 people, has had to shut down repeatedly because the water is unfit to drink, even after extensive treatment. The suit was filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because the Corps has caused the Caloosahatchee’s problems by cutting off the river’s water supply. The Corps operates three water control structures which regulate the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee estuary at the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of providing the Caloosahatchee with the flow it needs to stay healthy, the Corps diverts water to irrigate 500,000 acres of sugar cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee. The river is too often left stagnant and polluted.

Source: Earthjustice news release