Lake Apopka
Encyclopedia
Lake Apopka is the third largest lake
in the U.S.
state of Florida
. It is located 15 miles (24.1 km) northwest of Orlando
, mostly within the bounds of Orange County
, although the western part is in Lake County
. Fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormwater runoff, water from Lake Apopka flows through the Apopka-Beauclair Canal and into Lakes Beauclair and Dora
. From Lake Dora, water flows into Lake Eustis
, then into Lake Griffin and then northward into the Ocklawaha River
, which flows into the St. Johns River
.
Lake Apopka has a history of more than 100 years of human alteration, beginning with construction of the Apopka-Beauclair Canal in 1888. In 1941, a levee
was built along the north shore to drain 20,000 acres (80 km²) of shallow marsh for farming. The discharge of water, rich in nutrients from agricultural and other sources, produced conditions that created a chronic algal bloom and resulted in loss of the lake’s recreational value and game fish populations.
In July 1980, Tower Chemical Company (TCC), a local pesticide
manufacturer, improperly disposed of significant amounts of DDE
, a known endocrine disruptor, along with other toxic chemicals. As a result, these chemicals spilled into Lake Apopka, and the US Environmental Protection Agency
was alerted. TCC shut down their operations in December 1980. In 1981, an EPA investigation began and the site was decommissioned and designated as a Superfund
clean-up site. Despite their efforts, some of the chemicals seeped into the Florida aquifer and have proliferated into some of Central Florida's interconnected lakes and waterways. This chemical has caused health problems in much of the lake's wildlife population, and has caused infertility and other sexual disorders in several species, including alligator
s.
In 1991, a coalition of real estate interests from the West Orange Community organized the Friends of Lake Apopka (FOLA) with the goal of reclaiming the lake from the agricultural interests who were discharging phosphorus
laden water into the lake basin. Water from the lake was used to flood the farm fields during the hot summer months to restrict erosion and then discharged back to the lake before the growing season. A series of canals and high capacity pumps allowed the water to be introduced for irrigation and flooding or to discharge it when necessary. The phosphate laden water created a hypereutrophic condition resulting in algal blooms, robbing the lake water of oxygen and sunlight necessary to sustain plant life on the lake bottom. Over the decades, this condition caused the sandy bottom lake to be covered by a deep layer of muck.
In 1996, Governor
Lawton Chiles
signed the Lake Apopka Restoration Act that provided funding to purchase the farmland responsible for the discharges. The shuttering of the farms allowed for the St. Johns River Water Management District
(SJRWD) to begin plans to convert the fields back to the marsh area it had once been. A survey was taken of the site that identified the hot spots that contained chemical contamination and clean up was initiated.
The Lake Apopka Farmworkers Environmental Health Project chronicles the timeline, history, and consequences of shutting down the muck farms :
"May 31, 1998 was the official culmination of farming on Lake Apopka. After 50 years of the seasonal cycle of planting, harvesting, and packing of produce, all cultivation of crops came to a halt. Farmworkers, who earned a living from these farming operations for years and even generations, lost their livelihoods and some, who lived in company-provided housing, even lost their homes. The Farmworker Association of Florida began working to address the needs of some 2,500 Lake Apopka farmworkers in 1996 with the passage of the Lake Apopka Restoration Act. In multiple meetings and conversations with local and state agencies and officials, FWAF was finally able to advocate for a retraining/re-employment program which was implemented in the summer of 1998. Later, through the Federal Relocation Act, the organization was able to help secure relocation assistance for some 70 farmworker families. However, farmworkers’ concerns were soon to change focus in the winter following the farm closures, when the unprecedented bird mortality raised critical questions about persistent pesticides in the muck soil of the former farm lands.
The Lake Apopka farmworkers worked primarily in the vegetable crop industry. The major crops grown on Lake Apopka farmlands were: carrots, radishes, corn, cabbage, different types of lettuce, parsley, cilantro, collards, potatoes, beans, bell peppers, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, and beets. The workers performed various jobs on the Lake Apopka farms, including: plowing, hoeing, planting, harvesting, loading, box-making, washing, grading, sorting, branding/bagging, canning, transporting, and applying pesticides and fertilizer.
A great concern to the farmworker community is whether their exposure to workplace chemicals has produced multi-generational health effects, in particular effects on the cognitive abilities of their children. Organochlorine pesticides, such as those implicated in the bird deaths on Lake Apopka, are generally considered to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, similar to those that have had impacts on the offspring of wildlife that have been exposed to these contaminants in the wild and/or in research studies.
Efforts over the years to encourage local, state and federal agencies to undertake a health assessment and/or study of the Lake Apopka farmworker community have met with no response or action, yet, the community continues to recount stories of debilitating illnesses and even death among their members. While research into the impacts on wildlife on Lake Apopka are on-going, human health problems, especially that of former the Lake Apopka farmworkers, are summarily ignored.
Not only were the workers exposed in the past to agricultural chemicals in their workplaces, but many that still live in the communities surrounding the lake continue to be at high risk of exposure to a variety of contaminants through various exposure routes due to the multiple neighboring polluting industries and hazardous sites located in the surrounding community. These sources of continuing exposure to pervasive toxins in their environment include: potential pesticide drift from several nurseries located adjacent to residential areas; volatile organic compounds from nearby fiberglass and plastics manufacturing companies and other industries located within the community; two local industrial landfills; two Superfund sites on Lake Apopka; two city sewage treatment plants; and a Stericycle medical waste incinerator.
There remain disturbing and unanswered questions. What is the true legacy of the years of farming on Lake Apopka? What are the impacts on the wildlife on the lake? What long-term effects have years of pesticide and agricultural chemical use had on the health of the lake and its people? How much of the current state of health of the former Lake Apopka farmworkers and their families can be attributed, in whole or in part, to their years of work on contaminated farm lands? These are questions that need to be asked, and a community’s concerns that need to be addressed. Though the news and attention that put Lake Apopka in the headlines for years has quieted down, there remains buried in the rich muck soil, a story whose pages have yet to be opened."
The Farmworker Association of Florida also worked with the community to memorialize their loved ones who were lost as a result of health complications caused by pesticide exposure. The Lake Apopka Farmworker Memorial Quilts were completed in the Summer of 2010 and have since been travelled across the country. Each square tells the story of a farmworker who worked on the muck and contributed to his or her community in a number of venues, as represented on the quilts.
This flooding took place during a time of year when thousands of water fowl were migrating south to winter and during what was normally a growing (and dry season) in the farms. The flooded area attracted thousands of birds, who stopped in the newly discovered wetland and began feeding.
The bird count was so high that record numbers of a large variety of bird species were being observed. Bird watching at the restoration area was promoted by the local audubon.
Birds began dying in the restoration area in the fall of 1998. The cause was not officially determined but it was reported that agencies suspected that pesticides were finding their way through the food chain and the birds feeding on possibly contaminated fish were being poisoned.
In February 1999 it was reported, "Chemicals commonly found in pesticides are killing birds and fish near Lake Apopka, and people should avoid the area and its wildlife, federal officials said Wednesday...Fish and Wildlife officials said Wednesday that they believe the birds are dying after they eat fish contaminated with the chemicals. Wildlife experts believe at least another 50 birds have died after leaving the site. Officials are asking pilots to avoid flying low over Lake Apopka, which could cause birds to scatter into the danger zone." Orlando Sentinel, 2/18/99.
The following notice was published by SJRWMD on March 16, 1999:
Currently, the SJRWMD maintains a "marsh flow-way" system that naturally filters the water of the lake, removing solids and phosphate, before returning it to the lake body. The result is an increase in water clarity and signs that the lake is on the mend.
In the mid 2000's, instead of pressure by agricultural interests, the lake shore was being eyed by residential developers and the municipalities were proposing plans to use the lake water for residential landscape watering use as surface water sources were being looked at to offset the stress growth was placing on the aquifer. FOLA remains active in monitoring any proposals or developments that may adversely impact the restoration process.
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It is located 15 miles (24.1 km) northwest of Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, mostly within the bounds of Orange County
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida and is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 1,145,956....
, although the western part is in Lake County
Lake County, Florida
Lake County is a county located in the state of Florida, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 210,528. The Census Bureau estimated the population in 2008 to be 307,243. Its county seat is Tavares...
. Fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormwater runoff, water from Lake Apopka flows through the Apopka-Beauclair Canal and into Lakes Beauclair and Dora
Lake Dora
Lake Dora is a seasonal salt lake in Western Australia. It lies between the vegetated sand fields of the Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts. The Rudall River occasionally brings water to Lake Dora....
. From Lake Dora, water flows into Lake Eustis
Lake Eustis
Lake Eustis is located in Central Florida, west of the city of Eustis. It covers approximately 7,000 acres . It is spring feed and is a member of the Harris Chain of Lakes, and is connected to Lake Harris by means of the Dead River. It is also connected to the St. Johns River via Haines Creek to...
, then into Lake Griffin and then northward into the Ocklawaha River
Ocklawaha River
The Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is a corruption of ak-lowahe, Creek for "muddy"....
, which flows into the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
.
History
Through the 1940s, Lake Apopka was one of Central Florida’s main attractions. Anglers traveled from throughout the United States to fish for trophy-sized bass in Lake Apopka, and 21 fish camps lined the lake’s shoreline.Lake Apopka has a history of more than 100 years of human alteration, beginning with construction of the Apopka-Beauclair Canal in 1888. In 1941, a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
was built along the north shore to drain 20,000 acres (80 km²) of shallow marsh for farming. The discharge of water, rich in nutrients from agricultural and other sources, produced conditions that created a chronic algal bloom and resulted in loss of the lake’s recreational value and game fish populations.
In July 1980, Tower Chemical Company (TCC), a local pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
manufacturer, improperly disposed of significant amounts of DDE
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene is a chemical compound formed by the loss of hydrogen chloride from DDT, of which it is one of the more common breakdown products. DDE is fat soluble which tends to build up in the fat of animals. Due to its stability in fat, DDE is rarely excreted from the body,...
, a known endocrine disruptor, along with other toxic chemicals. As a result, these chemicals spilled into Lake Apopka, and the US Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
was alerted. TCC shut down their operations in December 1980. In 1981, an EPA investigation began and the site was decommissioned and designated as a Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
clean-up site. Despite their efforts, some of the chemicals seeped into the Florida aquifer and have proliferated into some of Central Florida's interconnected lakes and waterways. This chemical has caused health problems in much of the lake's wildlife population, and has caused infertility and other sexual disorders in several species, including alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s.
In 1991, a coalition of real estate interests from the West Orange Community organized the Friends of Lake Apopka (FOLA) with the goal of reclaiming the lake from the agricultural interests who were discharging phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
laden water into the lake basin. Water from the lake was used to flood the farm fields during the hot summer months to restrict erosion and then discharged back to the lake before the growing season. A series of canals and high capacity pumps allowed the water to be introduced for irrigation and flooding or to discharge it when necessary. The phosphate laden water created a hypereutrophic condition resulting in algal blooms, robbing the lake water of oxygen and sunlight necessary to sustain plant life on the lake bottom. Over the decades, this condition caused the sandy bottom lake to be covered by a deep layer of muck.
In 1996, Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
signed the Lake Apopka Restoration Act that provided funding to purchase the farmland responsible for the discharges. The shuttering of the farms allowed for the St. Johns River Water Management District
St. Johns River Water Management District
The St. Johns River Water Management District is one of five Florida water management districts that is responsible for managing groundwater and surface water resources in Florida. SJRWMD covers an 18-county region in northeast and east-central Florida...
(SJRWD) to begin plans to convert the fields back to the marsh area it had once been. A survey was taken of the site that identified the hot spots that contained chemical contamination and clean up was initiated.
Toll on Farmworkers
Farmers who had agreed to sell their farms refused to retrain and in most cases to even inform their employees that the farms would be closing. Once the farms were closed many farmworkers came to work only to find out that they were now out of a job. These farmworkers, many suffering the health effects of decades of exposure to the very same endocrine disrupting agents and organochlorine pesticides that caused the bird deaths and alligator mutations, were left in precarious positions that last to this night.The Lake Apopka Farmworkers Environmental Health Project chronicles the timeline, history, and consequences of shutting down the muck farms :
"May 31, 1998 was the official culmination of farming on Lake Apopka. After 50 years of the seasonal cycle of planting, harvesting, and packing of produce, all cultivation of crops came to a halt. Farmworkers, who earned a living from these farming operations for years and even generations, lost their livelihoods and some, who lived in company-provided housing, even lost their homes. The Farmworker Association of Florida began working to address the needs of some 2,500 Lake Apopka farmworkers in 1996 with the passage of the Lake Apopka Restoration Act. In multiple meetings and conversations with local and state agencies and officials, FWAF was finally able to advocate for a retraining/re-employment program which was implemented in the summer of 1998. Later, through the Federal Relocation Act, the organization was able to help secure relocation assistance for some 70 farmworker families. However, farmworkers’ concerns were soon to change focus in the winter following the farm closures, when the unprecedented bird mortality raised critical questions about persistent pesticides in the muck soil of the former farm lands.
The Lake Apopka farmworkers worked primarily in the vegetable crop industry. The major crops grown on Lake Apopka farmlands were: carrots, radishes, corn, cabbage, different types of lettuce, parsley, cilantro, collards, potatoes, beans, bell peppers, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, and beets. The workers performed various jobs on the Lake Apopka farms, including: plowing, hoeing, planting, harvesting, loading, box-making, washing, grading, sorting, branding/bagging, canning, transporting, and applying pesticides and fertilizer.
A great concern to the farmworker community is whether their exposure to workplace chemicals has produced multi-generational health effects, in particular effects on the cognitive abilities of their children. Organochlorine pesticides, such as those implicated in the bird deaths on Lake Apopka, are generally considered to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, similar to those that have had impacts on the offspring of wildlife that have been exposed to these contaminants in the wild and/or in research studies.
Efforts over the years to encourage local, state and federal agencies to undertake a health assessment and/or study of the Lake Apopka farmworker community have met with no response or action, yet, the community continues to recount stories of debilitating illnesses and even death among their members. While research into the impacts on wildlife on Lake Apopka are on-going, human health problems, especially that of former the Lake Apopka farmworkers, are summarily ignored.
Not only were the workers exposed in the past to agricultural chemicals in their workplaces, but many that still live in the communities surrounding the lake continue to be at high risk of exposure to a variety of contaminants through various exposure routes due to the multiple neighboring polluting industries and hazardous sites located in the surrounding community. These sources of continuing exposure to pervasive toxins in their environment include: potential pesticide drift from several nurseries located adjacent to residential areas; volatile organic compounds from nearby fiberglass and plastics manufacturing companies and other industries located within the community; two local industrial landfills; two Superfund sites on Lake Apopka; two city sewage treatment plants; and a Stericycle medical waste incinerator.
There remain disturbing and unanswered questions. What is the true legacy of the years of farming on Lake Apopka? What are the impacts on the wildlife on the lake? What long-term effects have years of pesticide and agricultural chemical use had on the health of the lake and its people? How much of the current state of health of the former Lake Apopka farmworkers and their families can be attributed, in whole or in part, to their years of work on contaminated farm lands? These are questions that need to be asked, and a community’s concerns that need to be addressed. Though the news and attention that put Lake Apopka in the headlines for years has quieted down, there remains buried in the rich muck soil, a story whose pages have yet to be opened."
The Farmworker Association of Florida also worked with the community to memorialize their loved ones who were lost as a result of health complications caused by pesticide exposure. The Lake Apopka Farmworker Memorial Quilts were completed in the Summer of 2010 and have since been travelled across the country. Each square tells the story of a farmworker who worked on the muck and contributed to his or her community in a number of venues, as represented on the quilts.
The Bird Deaths - What May Have Happened
After the purchase of the muck farms was completed, the farm equipment auctioned and the restoration area was fully under the management of St. Johns River Water Management District, a decision to flood a section of the former muck farms was made.This flooding took place during a time of year when thousands of water fowl were migrating south to winter and during what was normally a growing (and dry season) in the farms. The flooded area attracted thousands of birds, who stopped in the newly discovered wetland and began feeding.
The bird count was so high that record numbers of a large variety of bird species were being observed. Bird watching at the restoration area was promoted by the local audubon.
Birds began dying in the restoration area in the fall of 1998. The cause was not officially determined but it was reported that agencies suspected that pesticides were finding their way through the food chain and the birds feeding on possibly contaminated fish were being poisoned.
In February 1999 it was reported, "Chemicals commonly found in pesticides are killing birds and fish near Lake Apopka, and people should avoid the area and its wildlife, federal officials said Wednesday...Fish and Wildlife officials said Wednesday that they believe the birds are dying after they eat fish contaminated with the chemicals. Wildlife experts believe at least another 50 birds have died after leaving the site. Officials are asking pilots to avoid flying low over Lake Apopka, which could cause birds to scatter into the danger zone." Orlando Sentinel, 2/18/99.
The following notice was published by SJRWMD on March 16, 1999:
Finding a Solution
The study found that if encapsulated, these contaminants will not find their way into the food chain. Currently, a contract has been let to till the entire restorations area to a depth 3'. By "turning over" the land, the SJRWMD hopes to be able to again flood the area and begin the natural process of marsh restoration.Currently, the SJRWMD maintains a "marsh flow-way" system that naturally filters the water of the lake, removing solids and phosphate, before returning it to the lake body. The result is an increase in water clarity and signs that the lake is on the mend.
In the mid 2000's, instead of pressure by agricultural interests, the lake shore was being eyed by residential developers and the municipalities were proposing plans to use the lake water for residential landscape watering use as surface water sources were being looked at to offset the stress growth was placing on the aquifer. FOLA remains active in monitoring any proposals or developments that may adversely impact the restoration process.
External links
- "Growing Pains: Apopka farmworkers say pesticide exposure caused illnesses" - Orlando Weekly
- Ocklawaha River Watershed and Lake Apopka Restoration - Florida DEP
- Lake Apopka Farmworker Environmental Health Project, floridafarmworkers.org
- http://www.floridafarmworkers.org/images/my_images/pdf/lakeapopkareport.pdf