Miles of waterways and beaches in St Lucie and Martin counties swamped with foul-smelling algae, causing skin rashes and raising concerns over marine animals

An area of southern Florida has been hit by an “unprecedented” outbreak of blue-green algae, causing miles of waterways and beaches to be swamped with foul-smelling toxins that have caused skin rashes among residents and raised concerns over the fate of marine animals.



Florida governor Rick Scott has declared a state of local emergency in St Lucie and Martin counties, in the Treasure Coast region, after the bloom caused water at some beaches to thicken and turn pea green. Warnings at four beaches spanning 20 miles in Martin county urged beachgoers to not enter the water.

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A series of angry public meetings this week saw residents urge state and federal authorities to do more to deal with the crisis, which occurred after water was released from Lake Okeechobee, the largest freshwater lake in Florida. Algae samples from the lake taken earlier this month found levels of toxins 20 times higher than a safety threshold set by the World Health Organisation.

“The smell is so bad it will make you gag,” said Martin county resident Mary Radabaugh at an emergency meeting. “We have red eyes and scratchy throats. We can smell it in our office. It’s terrible.”

Other residents complained of skin rashes from the bloom, which has clogged waterways and reached the coast for what is believed to be the first time. The Florida department of environmental protection has told people to steer clear of discolored water and not use it to water their lawns.

Martin country commissioner Doug Smith referred to the infamous 2010 BP oil spill when he said the disaster was “our Deep Water Horizon”, adding: “It’s time the federal and state government understand how God-awful the problem is here.”

The algal bloom has been triggered by high rainfall, soaring temperatures and nutrient-rich water. Excess water in Lake Okeechobee placed pressure on an aging levee; the US army corps of engineers released water to prevent people south of the lake from being inundated.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Boats docked at Central Marina in Stuart, Florida, are surrounded by blue green algae Wednesday. Photograph: Greg Lovett/AP

Toxins released from the bloom as the algae decays can cause skin rashes, vomiting and respiratory problems in people. There are also fears that manatees, which graze on seagrasses in the estuary area, and sea turtles could be killed off by the toxins.

Deborah Drum, manager of ecosystem restoration at Martin county, told the Guardian the algal bloom was “unprecedented” for the region, which experienced a smaller outbreak in 2005.

“This is the worst it’s even been and there are no signs that is it improving, I really wish it was,” she said. “It’s been a very trying, challenging time for us here. One of the concerns is that the toxins will be very tough on sea mammals. We haven’t found any dead ones yet but it’s hard to imagine that we won’t.”

Drum said there was no known way to effectively clean up the algal bloom.

“We have to wait for it to disperse,” she said. “We anticipate that it will go away but we are not sure about that now. We didn’t expect this to happen so we are kind of at a new frontier.”

The US army corps of engineers said it was put in an unenviable situation when choosing when to release water or not but Scott said he had little sympathy for what he called federal “inaction and negligence” and now wants the locks closed.

“Because the Obama administration has failed to act on this issue, the US army corps of engineers continues to discharge millions of gallons of water into the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries, resulting in the growth of blue-green algae, which is now entering residential waterways in South Florida,” the Florida governor said.

“[The federal government] don’t have the money to make sure the dike can hold the water at Lake Okeechobee.”

The flat wetlands of south Florida have been extensively re-engineered with canals and man-made lakes, radically altering the natural flow of fresh water. Drum said a re-think was needed in a region that is particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures, sea level rise and invasive species.

“Maybe some of the decisions that were made in the past could be done differently in the future,” she said. “All levels of government have a responsibility to create a sustainable path forward. It would be a mistake to use the same thinking that got us into this situation.”