Local Environmental Group Walking For Clean Water

Daytona Beach, FL – A local environmental group is heeding the state call to action to Demand Clean Water and make people aware of the issues affecting our clean water supply. Edgewater Environmental Alliance Facebook page administrator Libby Lavette said in Volusia County, people walking to Demand Clean Water will be on the International Speedway Bridge this Sunday, October 18 at 11 a.m. but the same thing will be happening across Florida. "Just walking, demanding clean water. It’s simple. It’s one statement. Clean water. There are many ways to get there but that’s what we’re doing but we’re doing it statewide. There will be bridges and causeways across the entire state." Lavette said one walk isn’t going to get the legislative changes that are needed. She said we have to do this until we get the clean water.  "Hopefully, people will start to understand how vital it is to have these legislative reforms. If you can’t walk, we understand that. Please honk, it gives us so much energy when we’re out there." People that want to walk with the group should assemble at City Island. The walk begins at 11 a.m. To find out more about Demand Clean Water, visit their Facebook page. This is a list of problems, according to Demand Clean Water, that requires immediate legislative action: Untreated sewage discharges and biosolids fertilization within watersheds. New septic tanks being approved, and old ones not being regularly inspected. Especially if near a tributary or other body of water. Shoreline access is disappearing, and on state/government-owned property, it is not free of charge and guaranteed. Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades must be restored to send clean water south, thereby ending emergency discharges to our coasts. As I am writing this, the Army Corps is preparing to send massive discharges to The St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers. Basin Management Action Plans(BMAPs) does not contain enforcement mechanisms that are stringent enough to avoid being considered ‘costs of doing business’. The government is spraying huge quantities of toxic herbicides into and around the shorelines of retention ponds and waterways. Phosphate mining is stacking radioactive waste and discharging other mining waste directly into rivers. Back-pumping/draining fields from the EAA is putting large quantities of fertilizers and herbicides directly into Lake Okeechobee. Responsibility for enforcement of water regulations is dispersed across a myriad of agencies, creating severe unaccountability. Fracking and Oil Drilling in this state is moving forward. It must be BANNED. Completely. Harmful contamination exists at numerous and an increasing number of sites around the state. Development in flood plains continues with little or no stormwater runoff mitigation. Home rule is under attack, undermining local regulations that protect our waterways. Dredging and beach nourishment projects are severely harming reefs and estuaries. Our springs are turning from blue to green, and the water is being sold to massive bottling companies for a pittance. Toxic algae blooms are creating very harmful and dangerous human health impacts. We are poised to spend 26 billion dollars on new toll roads through wildlands and are not spending even half that amount on restoration projects.