Vern Buchanan says existing water quality rules need to be enforced, not pass more regulations

SARASOTA COUNTY – U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan said Monday following a roundtable discussion on red tide that more must be done to keep nutrients that feed harmful algae blooms out of waterways, but he favors stricter enforcement of existing rules over new regulations.

"Let's enforce the ones we've got first and then we'll go from there," Buchanan said of Florida's environmental regulations.

Buchanan convened the roundtable Monday at Sarasota's Selby Gardens as red tide continues to foul waterways and kill sea life along coastal Sarasota and Manatee counties, as well as in the Tampa Bay area.

In related news:What we know about red tide in the Gulf of Mexico right now

In case you missed it:Red tide measuring in medium to high levels along Sarasota-Manatee coast this week

Previously:Sarasota and Manatee counties take different approaches to red tide fish kills

Environmental advocates have long criticized Florida's water quality rules as inadequate, arguing they are failing to keep nutrients found in residential stormwater runoff, agriculture runoff, failing septic and sewer systems and other sources out of waterways.

Red tide is naturally occurring, but excess nutrients in the water can contribute to stronger blooms.

"We've got to do a better job being more aggressive about knocking it down," Buchanan said of the nutrient pollution problem.

Red tide persists on area beaches

Red tide presence among Sarasota County area beaches appears to be unchanged from late last week, with minor respiratory irritation and organic debris reported, according to Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources. 

Red tide is present at all 16 Sarasota County beaches, with the county’s red tide dashboard reporting fish kills and red tide aerosol presence at minor to moderate levels at Lido, South Lido and Siesta beaches, as of 11:30 a.m. Monday 

Aerosol, created when wave action mixes with the toxic algae to make particles airborne, is present in moderate levels at Nokomis and North Jetty beaches, while the fish kill status is minor to moderate. 

At Brohard Beach and Manasota Beach, both aerosol and fish kill levels are listed as moderate. 

The most recent readings available from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission showed medium to high concentrations of Karenia brevis, the organism that causes red tide, at most of the 28 sample collection sites in Sarasota County, low to high concentration in nine sampling areas in Manatee County and medium to high concentrations in four collection areas in Charlotte County. 

At Englewood beach in Charlotte County, red tide became problematic July 27, according to Mark Timchula, better known as “The Beach Guy,” for his chair and umbrella rental business at the beach. 

“It’s been rough since last Tuesday; we were like the last beach,” Timchula said. 

Monday morning, Charlotte County workers were busy picking up dead fish. The county has been responding more quickly to cleanup on public accesses than during the 2018 red tide outbreak, Timchula said. 

“More were washing in and the water is dark and murky,” he added. 

Timchula said he checked the beach Sunday night and “It was horrific, the smell. 

“I think it was more dead carcass smell last night than red tide.” 

The beach, on occasion is usable when the wind comes from the east, but Monday morning in Englewood, the wind was blowing from the west at 11 to 12 mph, Timchula said. 

The Beach Guy rental business has been closed since July 27, except for a brief opening July 30, but by 2 p.m., with dead fish washing up, it closed.

Current laws not enforced

At the roundtable discussion Monday morning, Buchanan  said current laws on water quality "aren't being enforced as aggressively" as they should be. He also supports funding to improve municipal wastewater programs.

"We've got to make those investments one way or another," Buchanan said.

Among those joining Buchanan Monday was Adam Blalock, a deputy secretary at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Asked about strengthening Florida's environmental regulations, Blalock noted that Senate Bill 712, which passed last year, directed DEP to update stormwater rules for new developments.

"I think regulations are in place," Blalock said. "We are also in the process of adopting new stormwater rules to have more stringent stormwater requirements for new developments to address the future growth."

Some environmental advocates criticized SB 712 - which addressed a number of other issues beyond stormwater regulation - as too weak to solve Florida's water quality issues, but Blalock said it starting to pay dividends.

"The governor's put a lot of emphasis on the environment," Blalock said, arguing the measures in SB 712 "are really starting to move the needle on water quality. It takes time."

Blalock also noted in an interview that the Legislature approved more than $600 million this year to upgrade wastewater systems, with $500 million of that money coming from federal stimulus dollars. Broken sewer pipes and other wastewater problems are another source of nutrient pollution.

"The governor and the Legislature have really focused in on providing funding for local governments with some of their wastewater issues," Blalock said.

Monday afternoon, Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried and Sarasota Mayor Hagen Brody held a press conference to discuss both the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services clean water initiative and the impact of harmful algal blooms. 

In response to a question about Buchanan’s assertion that existing regulations just need to be enforced, Fried responded, “Yes and no, it’s a mixed bag.” 

She noted that only recently were laws in place that allowed the Department of Agriculture to gather information through on-site visits and then refer evidence of noncompliance to the DEP. 

“We enroll, we go out and validate and then we send it over to DEP for enforcement,” Fried said. “But if the enforcement arm is not utilizing its strength, then the program has no teeth to it, has no effectiveness.” 

She noted that so far, 6,600 cases have been referred to the DEP.

The Sarasota stop was part of a three-day tour for Fried that included a visit to Fort Myers Monday morning, as well as stops in Stuart and the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. 

Fried, who is a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and Brody arrived at Mote Marine after touring Sarasota Bay via boat. 

Brody pointed to water quality improvements made in concert with The Bay and the Bobby Jones golf course water quality improvement and renovation project in which more than 1,000 pounds of nitrates and phosphates will be filtered out of almost 2.6 billion gallons of water that flow through those properties from about 6,000 acres of watershed. 

He also raised concern over the increasing number of dead fish appearing along beaches and in waterways. 

“We’re going to be taking a look in the next couple of days at some ways to step up our cleaning efforts, not just for our shorelines and beaches but also looking at our waterways,” Brody said.

Fried reiterated a call for Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency, so local governments can access state and federal resources to deal with red tide. 

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