Earthjustice: Because the earth needs a good lawyer

Many of the postcard-perfect blue waters that make Florida a tourist mecca are coming up green and choked with nasty, toxic algae.

The culprit behind this environmental and economic crisis? Pollution caused by inadequately treated sewage, manure and fertilizer.

This pollution is preventable. Now that we know how the nitrogen and phosphorus in sewage, manure and fertilizer tip Florida's delicate ecological balance, we have a responsibility to do something about it.

Earthjustice is committed to restoring clean water to Florida—because the current state of affairs is untenable and dangerous to human health.

Earthjustice Managing Attorney David Guest talks about the threat to the health and wealth of Florida's citizens posed by toxic algae outbreaks.

More than 98% of Florida's bays and estuaries, and more than 54% of its streams, are unsafe to swim and/or fish in.

Earthjustice and its clients are working to change that.

In 2009, Earthjustice negotiated an historic settlement with the EPA in which the agency agreed to set enforceable numeric standards to control pollution in Florida's waters.

But interests who profit from free disposal of pollutants in public waterways are fighting these new standards—and they have allies in Congress and in Tallahassee.

Earthjustice is representing the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the St. John's Riverkeeper, and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Florida's waterways are plagued by slime caused by fertilizer, sewage and animal manure. Click on the blue icons on the map to view photographs of the muck, or explore a larger map.

Florida's Department of Health and Division of Environmental Health issued a pamphlet on the basic facts and dangers of blue green algae.

5 Facts On Blue Green Algae:

1. Blue green algae, also called cyanobacteria, are tiny organisms naturally found in all types of water.
2. Algal blooms can look like a thick mat or foamy scum. Blooms can change the water color to blue, green, brown, orange, or red and may give off an unpleasant odor.
3. Blue green algae sometimes produce toxins and other times do not. You cannot look at a bloom and tell if it is toxic.
4. Swimming in blooms can result in ear, eye and skin reactions.
5. Even non-toxic algae can create problems in the water environment. Blooms can remove oxygen from the water, causing large fish kills.

For more facts and health and safety tips, read the entire pamphlet or call Florida's Aquatic Toxins Hotline: 1-888-232-8635.