Something In The River - FL Algae Produces Itching, Heart Attacks

[hatrack]

FORT WHITE - The cool, clear water of the Ichetucknee River gently flows around tubers enjoying one of their final floats this season. To those who visit the river as a retreat into nature's beauty, the water is pristine, one of the few bodies left untouched by the complications of civilization. But to many experts, changes to the river are coming at an alarming rate.

Slow though the changes may be to the visitors' eyes, experts say, the changes in plant and animal life have intensified over the past several years. That intensification may even affect visitors to the springs. Some people have had severe allergies from something in the river, causing reactions as minor as itchiness to as serious as cardiac arrest.

Many experts believe that the culprit may be the new algae that has formed as a result of the changes. Experts attribute the changes to development - particularly spray fields, septic tanks and stormwater that carry nitrates - in and around the Ichetucknee Springs Basin.

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Quick-growing algae and plants like water lettuce and eelgrass now coat the bottom of the river that was once home to more delicate species of plant life. "The algae can actually shade out the eelgrass by not allowing it to get sunlight," Stevenson said. "It's feeding off the nitrates. That's why it's expanding so fast." Nitrates are heaviest at the springs, he said, because that's where they flow out from the ground. As the concentration lessens further down the river, the signs of plant life changes aren't as drastic. "I've never seen the algae this thick before," Stevenson said while guiding a recent trip down the river. "During the past year, it's just gotten worse and worse... These changes are so subtle that the majority of people don't realize they're going on."

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http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2006/09/07/news/news02.txt

[donsu]

1. tick, tick, tick

and then silence

[SutaUvaca]

2. I lived in the area for 3 decades

And the Ichetucknee tubing route was always one of the finest outdoor treats you could imagine. No telling how long environmental impact statements have been being fudged for developers.

This is sad.

[skids]

3. Stories like this are getting more and more common.

I'm starting to wonder whether the rapid proliferation of toxic blooms will end up being more devestating than the coming food shortages. But then, I suppose it would at least have to be combined with a tree blight to reach the larger population.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. The Death of Grass (John Christopher)

Fiction. A world-wide blight attacks all plants in the grass/cereal family -- which is most of what we eat. It's not "hard" sci-fi, it's character-driven, but the sense of the disaster is grim and relentless.

Read about it at Amazon dot com.

--p!

[Javaman]

4. Ahhh so that's where the military dumped all those old

chemical weapons.

We are entering into a whole new eco-cycle for the earth. We are only seeing the start of some truly weird shit as nature desperately tries to correct itself out of the mess we made.

[seasat]

6. I wonder if part can be traced to the cement plant.

It is a classic Jebbie story.

(LINK)

"Will the mine affect the flow of groundwater? Absolutely," Struhs said. "Will it contaminate the groundwater? That depends on how you define contamination."
...
The plant will burn coal and tires and release about 3,100 tons of pollutants every year, including 97 pounds of mercury, which environmentalists say could taint fish in the three nearby rivers. The DEP says the plant will have more pollution controls than any other cement plant in Florida.

Among those who tried to stop the plant, there's bitterness about allowing heavy industry in one of Florida's finest places.

The DEP issued the cement plant permit in secret negotiations with the company, prompting charges of back-room dealing. The company's chief negotiator was Steve MacNamara, a top aide to then- Florida House Speaker John Thrasher. DEP staffers later complained that they thought MacNamara was representing Thrasher, and didn't know he was also on Anderson Columbia's payroll. The state Ethics Commission found probable cause that MacNamara violated ethics laws. He is appealing.

It should also be noted that approval for the plant came after about $190,000 in donations from Anderson/Columbia to the Florida GOP.