Earth Justice filed a federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The suit says the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers’ failure to lawfully manage water flow from Lake Okeechobee down the Caloosahatchee River has turned portions of the waterway into nauseating green slime.
Andrew McElwaine, president/CEO of the Conservancy, said the agency’s actions are the single greatest threat to the region’s water quality.
“Either too little or too much fresh water and the lack of any effort to create something approximating a natural flow regimen has been devastating to water quality to drinking water, to habitat for the manatee, the small tooth sawfish and numerous other species,” he said.
The suit asks the Corps of Engineers to comply with existing laws. A spokesman for the Corps said the agency does not comment on litigation but does have a framework for releases created with input from several environmental organizations, including the Conservancy.
