Originally published in The Center Square by John Haughey on June 12, 2019 The summer’s first blue-green algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee were documented by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] last week, including a June 5 manifestation that...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on June 11, 2019 Jevontae Jones knows Billy’s Creek isn’t clean, but on a June afternoon, that’s not enough to stop him from tossing a shrimp-baited line into its dark waters in hopes of hooking dinner....
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 9, 2019 Today is the 17th annual World Oceans Day, and community members gathered to celebrate the occasion. With a little music and a few beers at Millennial Brewing in Downtown Fort Myers, activists were hoping to spread the...
Originally published in The News-Press by Chad Gillis on June 8, 2019 The Caloosahatchee River estuary may soon suffer harm if daily rains don’t come soon. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managers cut flows from Lake Okeechobee last week to 450 cubic feet per...
Originally published in The News-Press by Patricia Borns on June 7, 2019 Fort Myers could have a new green space for residents to enjoy or a new storm water detention feature – options that 550 people will be asked to choose from in a survey to help the city decide...
Originally published by FOX4 News on June 6, 2019 Protecting Paradise and your health are the focus of a new summit the Calusa Waterkeeper is planning. It looks at blue-green algae blooms and the impact on our health. It’s on Monday, June 24th at 5:30 p.m. at...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on June 2, 2019 Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, will soon be forbidden in Fort Myers Beach, making the town the first Lee County municipality to ban the controversial...
An Opinion Column originally published in The News-Press and written by John Cassani, Linda Penniman & Howard Simon on May 27, 2019 The roundtable convened by Rep. Francis Rooney with federal, state and local officials about the public health consequences of...
Originally published in The News-Press by Chad Gillis on May 24, 2019 The seeds are planted for another blue-green algae outbreak in the historic Everglades system as the base of the marine food chain is active and temperatures are warming. Algae has been found in...
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 24, 2019 The Environmental Protection Agency released new water quality standards on Wednesday, setting guidelines for cyanotoxin levels in the water. The EPA concentrations for microcystins are eight micrograms per liter and...
State Would be First to Set Water-quality Standards for Cyanotoxins The Center for Biological Diversity, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and Calusa Waterkeeper petitioned the Florida Department of Environmental Protection today to protect the public from...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 23, 2019 Amid rising concern about the potential health effects of toxic algae, the Environmental Protection Agency released official safety advice Wednesday that advocates say falls far short of...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 21, 2019 With no fanfare, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers quietly closed a well-loved Caloosahatchee beach. This week, staff will start sodding over the sand that slopes to the river at the W.P....
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 20, 2019 The weather is heating up and so is the water, and if last years summer was any indication, that’s not a good mix for water quality. Large amounts of algae were spotted near Franklin Lock and Dam this weekend, the...
Originally published by WINK News on May 20, 2019 It is dangerous. But what can it do to your health? That is the question at the center of the water quality crisis. Now, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to get you answers....
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 20, 2019 Federal scientists plan a first-ever study of Lake Okeechobee fishing guides to help understand the long-term health effects of the lake’s cyanobacteria blooms. The Centers for Disease...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 17, 2019 Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Fort Myers is even greener than usual, as a floating layer of algae has appeared on the popular park’s Gator Lake and wetlands in its mitigation...
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 17, 2019 A resident in North Fort Myers posted pictures of blue-green algae in their backyard on the Caloosahatchee River on Tuesday. Calusa Waterkeeper found algae appearing on the river all the way from Labelle to North Fort...
Originally published in The Cape Coral Daily Breeze by Chuck Ballaro on May 15, 2019 A legal challenge to the state intent to issue a permit for the removal of the Chiquita Lock concluded Friday following a third day of testimony from witnesses for the city and...
Originally published by WGCU Media by Mike Kiniry & Julie Glenn on May 15, 2019 Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced the formation of a Blue-Green Algae Task Force that’s charged with reducing adverse impacts of the toxic algae blooms over the next five...
Originally published by WINK News on May 14, 2019 Not what you want to see in our waterways. Algae, which is floating down the Caloosahatchee River. The WINK News drone spotted some of it near the Edison Bridge in North Fort Myers Tuesday. Now, many neighbors fear a...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 6, 2019 Governor Ron DeSantis will attend U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney’s multi-agency roundtable on harmful algal blooms at FGCU this morning. DeSantis will then join Rooney and officials at a...
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 2, 2019 Bacteria are dirtying Southwest Florida waterways, a new study shows. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University presented results of the study to Lee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to show the sources of...
Originally published by FOX4 News on April 29, 2019 Kayakers set out to pick up more trash in our water to wrap up the Calusa Clean-Up of our Waterways this weekend. An idea started by Keep Lee County Beautiful and Calusa Waterkeeper to get you to pick up trash in Lee...
Originally published in Florida Politics by Drew Wilson on April 24, 2019 In the past few weeks, several sites in the Fort Myers area have experienced beach closures and health warnings due to an outbreak of fecal bacteria, a sign of human nutrient pollution from...
Originally published in The Pine Island Eagle by Meghan Bradbury on April 24, 2019 In an effort to reconnect the community to the waterways, Calusa Waterkeeper, a nonprofit clean water advocacy group, has kicked off the inaugural The Big Calusa, a recreational,...
ABC-7.com WZVN News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida Originally published by ABC7 News on April 22, 2019 A local organization wants to keep the Earth Day clean-ups going. Calusa Waterkeeper, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting some of the...
Originally published by WJCT News on April 22, 2019 First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the beginning of the modern environmental movement in 1970, when on April 22 an estimated 20-million Americans demonstrated for a healthy, sustainable...
Originally published by Jaclyn Lopez of the Center for Biological Diversity on April 22, 2019 Five conservation groups urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today to expedite efforts to curb releases of toxic, nutrient-rich waters from Lake Okeechobee that help drive...
As seen in a News-Press OpEd submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper, April 10, 2019 So far, the Florida legislative session has not adequately addressed the nutrient pollution time bomb that leads to harmful algal blooms (HABs). Great sums of public dollars...
