Copyright 1998 Stuart News Company
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart,FL)
May 7, 1998, Thursday
SECTION: A Section; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 882 words
HEADLINE: ESTUARY TO BE RETESTED FOR TOXIC MATTER
BYLINE: Debi Pelletier of the News staff
BODY:
Troubled Waters
River's improved salinity to be gauged
STUART - Now that salinity levels in the St. Lucie River estuary
are improving, scientists want to see what, if anything, will
happen to a toxic microalga blamed for a recent epidemic of fish
lesions.
Melissa Meeker of the Department of Environmental Protection's
Port St. Lucie office said Wednesday that 37 sites tested at the
height of the sick fish crisis will be retested for Cryptoperidiniopsis.
"Now that salinity is back in the estuary, and we know
where the Crypto is, we want to go back and see how the salinity
affects it," Meeker said.
Salinity levels in the estuary are crucial. Its brackish water
is home to a wide variety of marine life, some of which might
have been compromised by a high level of fresh water releases
from Lake Okeechobee.
Paul Millar of the South Florida Water Management District
said salinity levels range from 15 to 20 parts per thousand. They
range from 35 parts per thousand in the North Fork of the St.
Lucie to 10 parts per thousand at the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart.
"But in the South Fork especially, there is very low salinity,
near zero," he added.
Scientists think the microalgae become toxic when exposed to
fish and attack their protective slime coat, leaving the fish
vulnerable to bacterial infection. It's been found in five spots
so far - north of Hobe Sound, in two locations at the mouth of
the St. Lucie estuary, under the Roosevelt Bridge and near Jaycee
Park in Fort Pierce.
Although the number of sick fish appears to be declining as
less water is released from Lake Okeechobee and salinity levels
increase, the DEP and several other agencies are working together
to compile as much data as possible before a May 22 special summit.
Organized by Rep. Ken Pruitt, a Republican from Port St. Lucie,
and the St. Lucie River Initiative, the forum of federal, state
and regional agencies is expected to develop short- and long-term
solutions.
"We want all the analyses possible to be in progress by
then," said DEP biologist Ann Forstchen. "We want to
make sure there are no holes in the research."
In the meantime, the DEP will take monthly fish, water and
sediment samples from the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon
"for as long as necessary," Meeker said. The DEP normally
takes fish from the lagoon but will add eight or nine sampling
sites in the St. Lucie River.
The agency also plans a second intensive round of net fishing
next week to see whether they find the same number of lesioned
fish as they did in mid-April. Meeker said one of the preliminary
findings is that fish populations have not been adversely affected
by this disease event - at least in the Indian River.
"There are the same numbers of fish as there were before,"
she said. "But we couldn't say the same about the St. Lucie
because there is no historical data."
The South Florida Water Management District will test water
quality weekly instead of monthly and will do additional seagrass
surveys, which normally are done twice a year. "Seagrasses
tend to die off when they're surrounded by fresh water too long,
so we're monitoring their recovery," Millar said.
On Wednesday, DEP researchers collected clams and oysters for
the U.S. Agriculture Department, which will analyze them. "We
want to be able to rule out red tide and any toxins there are
tests for," Forstchen said. There is no test for Crypto or
its toxins.
Mark Perry of the Florida Oceanographic Society said the oyster
beds are a good indicator of the estuary's overall health and
their tissues are easily analyzed for toxins or pollutants. "Another
advantage is that oysters are not like fish - they don't move
around," Perry said, "so we can use the oyster beds
as monitoring stations."
State researchers are getting help. In addition to the Agriculture
Department's bivalve tests, Texas A&M University has offered
to conduct heavy metal and pesticide testing on fish, Forstchen
said. And the University of Miami has agreed to conduct biotoxin
analyses "once the Crypto toxin is identified, but that's
a long way down the road," she added.
So far, two of three known toxins in Pfiesteria, a close cousin
of Cryptoperidniopsis, have been isolated by Peter Moeller, a
research chemist at the University of Maryland. Although he hasn't
even begun working on isolating Crypto's toxins, Moeller is confident
things will move quickly after he gets the necessary samples.
In the meantime, Pruitt said he wants to make sure the momentum
continues to push for a permanent solution to the estuary's chronic
health problems. He said the pending summit should ensure that
"everybody is walking the same walk, and talking the same
talk," but he's especially impressed by news of a broad-based
coalition created this week by business, community and environmental
groups.
"I'm glad to see us all going in the same direction with
a common goal," Pruitt said, pointing out that he's never
seen such a variety of organizations come together before. "It
doesn't matter if you throw $ 1 billion at it. Nothing will happen
if you don't have that kind of backing from the community."
The May 22 summit will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Lyric Theatre,
59 S.W. Flagler Ave., Stuart, and is open to the public.
LOAD-DATE: May 7, 1998