As toxic algae blooms inundate residential waterways in South Florida, environmentalists are calling on state leaders to address the crisis by seizing land owned by the politically well-connected sugar industry.

  • Lake Okeechobee pollution running off into rivers in South Florida
  • Toxic Blue-green algae blooms
  • Environmentalists want FL government to buy sugar farm land for the water

The land, which lies south of Lake Okeechobee, could be used to store the polluted runoff causing the health-threatening blooms.

"There's something called eminent domain," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, told reporters during a recent tour of a coastal estuary teeming with algae. Nelson suggests Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet should force the U.S. Sugar Corporation to sell tens of thousands of acres of its land to the state.

South Florida Water Management District officials in May rejected a deal negotiated by former Gov. Charlie Crist to purchase a large swath of U.S. Sugar land and, despite the mounting severity of the algae bloom crisis, seizing the land through eminent domain appears unlikely.

U.S. Sugar is a powerful force in Tallahassee, contributing massive amounts of money to the politicians who shape policies affecting the company's bottom line. On June 10, the company gave Scott's 'Let's Get to Work' political committee $100,000.

Some type of land transfer, however, is possible. Environmentalists view it as the only permanent solution to a problem scientists warn will grow in intensity if left unaddressed.

"It's going to be some sort of middle ground to give the appearance of action, because the politicians, that is how they get re-elected, is showing that they're upfront and on top of an issue, and this issue's right in Florida's face," said Trimmel Gomes, who has followed environmental policymaking as a Florida Capitol advocate.

If a land acquisition is imminent, though, Scott has given no indication of it. He lays much of the blame for the crisis at the feet of the federal government. An aging dike system has been poorly maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and, he contends, has allowed agricultural runoff to enter canals and estuaries.

"We're going to do our part; the feds need to do their part," Scott said.

On Tuesday, Martin County extended its state of emergency for another week.

Florida Power and Light, meanwhile, has offered a nearby cooling pond as a location to move water from Lake Okeechobee.

South Florida Water Management District will divert 2 billion gallons of water, per month, from Lake Okeechobee to a cooling pond at the FPL power plant in Martin County east of the lake.

FPL said the lake is about 6,800 acres in size. While they don’t know how much water the pond can hold, an FPL spokesperson said it was a temporary solution and they were happy to help.

Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection also reports it received 10 reports of toxic algae blooms since opening a hotline for reporting last week. The hotline has taken about 100 calls, but the rest of the calls were comments, questions and technology proposals.

FL DEP officials are also took water samples along Lake Worth Lagoon and in Cape Coral on Tuesday.