Published: Jan 17, 2007 - 02:50:55 pm EST
By Patty Brant
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
will hold its only designated uses and classification refinement policy
advisory committee meeting in Southwest Florida on Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. till 3
p.m. The meeting will continue DEP's review of designated uses and water
classification. It will be held at the Southwest Florida Regional Planning
Council, 1926 Victoria Ave, Fort Myers. It is open to the public and public
comments will be heard.
The meeting will be followed by a workshop on water quality
issues.
Environmentalists throughout the state are concerned over
DEP discussions they feel would reclassify all man-altered state waters. That
would mean the C-43 Canal (Caloosahatchee River) will essentially be able to
accept reduced standards for water quality.
Local environmentalists fear the reclassification would turn
the Caloosahatchee River into an industrial canal, changing it from
"fishable/swimmable" to barely "splashable." They worry
that any reclassification may not stop any type of new pollution and want to
hold the line on further degradation.
As one of the most endangered rivers in the country, the
Caloosahatchee struggles with bouts of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
Experts say the algae is so toxic that one shot glass full can kill you; however,
the US has no standards for dealing with it.