Lake Okeechobee arsenic levels high

[seafan]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

By Andy Reid
July 9, 2007


Elevated levels of arsenic, as well as a soup of pesticides and other chemicals, were among contaminants found in thousands of truckloads of muck recently cleaned out of Lake Okeechobee's drought-exposed bottom.

Arsenic levels on the northern part of the lake bed were as much as four times the allowable limit for residential land, according to newly released test results from the South Florida Water Management District.

.....

The district's test results are expected to guide decisions about how to dispose of mounds of pollution-laden muck, scraped away by bulldozers and backhoes brought in to take advantage of a drought that dropped the lake to a historic low. Spreading the muck on agricultural, commercial or industrial land, as well as dumping it in landfills, is among the options proposed.

.....

Although as many as 30 tests by the district at six locations revealed an alphabet soup of pesticides and PCBs, all were at levels below the state's allowable standards. The elevated level of arsenic in the muck raised the most concerns. Arsenic and other pollutants from pesticides can affect the lungs and nervous system, lead to cancer and at high enough levels can be lethal.

Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-muck0907jul09,0,641674.story

[fed-up]

1. what part of toxic don't they get? "Spreading the muck on agricultural..." wtf???? nt

[grilled onions]

2. Sharing the "spoils"

or farms growing "crop-ola" ! If you have this concentrated pollution in one spot why would you want to spread it around??? :mad:

[donsu]

3. the stupid leading the stupid - could citizens stop this?

nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Is the arsenic natural or a pollutant?