February 22, 2024 • Brian Mast
Last January, the Army Corps triumphantly announced the completion of an 18-year project to repair the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee at a total cost to taxpayers of $1.5 billion.
Over the nearly two-decade lifespan of the project, each time the Army Corps came asking for more taxpayer funding, the project was heralded as a necessity that would increase the capacity of Lake Okeechobee by more than a foot—reducing the need for harmful discharges to the coastal estuaries, making communities around the lake safer from flood risk and decreasing the risk of water shortage.
May 12, 2022 • Brian Mast
Big news! Last night, Congress passed my bill–the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act!
This bill will mandate the federal government take action in the northern estuaries and South Florida to combat toxic algal blooms.
It is the first-ever federal plan of its kind to force the federal government to take responsibility for the damage they have caused in our state.
March 18, 2022 • Brian Mast
I’m not going to sugarcoat this: the Florida legislature has just wrapped up another session with no meaningful reform to protect Florida’s waterways.
You may have heard about a bill called SB 2508, which was a bill designed to give more water control to the sugar industry to the detriment of Florida’s environment. While this bill was ultimately amended after intense public pressure to remove some of the worst parts, it’s still a crap bill that will make it harder for water managers to protect Florida’s natural resources.
And, while SB 2508 grabbed many of the headlines from this session, the biggest news story is probably what didn’t happen: no increased efforts to curb pollution, no policy changes to combat toxic algal blooms and nothing that will help send more water south into the Everglades.
Governor DeSantis has been an absolutely fierce warrior to secure the funding needed for Everglades restoration.
January 14, 2022 • Brian Mast
This is urgent: the Army Corps is engaged in a cover up regarding the health impacts of harmful algal blooms!
I have repeatedly asked them to even just acknowledge the truth that people are being poisoned by these toxins, but they are burying the truth under bureaucratic bullshit.
December 20, 2021 • Brian Mast
Florida’s waterways are continuing their rapid deterioration with forces like corrupt elected officials, corporate polluters, and the powerful sugar lobby only making matters worse…
The situation in our lagoon is so bad for manatees right now that wildlife officials have been forced to provide food for them.
August 10, 2021 • Brian Mast
On Monday, the Army Corps will make a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT in the process to rewrite the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, and the sugar industry is already gaming out how to manipulate the next phase to their advantage.
They are rounding up politicians to send letters with their talking points, threatening lawsuits, and inundating reporters with spin from their political operatives.
