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What happened to the environment?
Lake Apopka, the second largest lake in Florida, has had a human presence for thousands of years. The Timucua and then Seminole tribes were sustained by the lake and its surrounding wildlife, and eventually colonial settlers saw similar appeal. By the 1800s this biodiversity attracted fisherman from around the country.
Fishing camps were established along 40 miles of the shore, and Lake Apopka became a popular vacation spot for fishing, boating, or simply enjoying the beauty of the lake. With the vastness of the lake, and the necessity to support the booming Central Florida population, a levee was built which drained 20,000 acres of the lakes northern shore. These 20,000 acres were used as vegetable much farms, but as nutrients were drained from these farms and into the lake, Lake Apopka began to change.
Not only were the muck farms draining into the lake, but runoff from local sewers and local citrus processing plants also found their way into the lake. The ecosystem which had sustained itself for thousands of years became unbalanced. Algae bloom took place, filling the lake with algae which thrived on the invasive nutrients, blocking out sunlight and killing off dozens of species which had lived in and around the lake.
Soon the lake would be known as, “the green lake”. Locals who worked as guides or fisherman, pleaded the government to do something. Meanwhile, by 1963, local farms began spending as much as one million dollars a year on pesticides, equivalent to eight million dollars today.
By 1965, the fish within the lake, namely catfish, can no longer be eaten as their bodies have been flooded by DDT. DDT was an insecticide commonly used in the middle of the 20th century, which was later banned as it was found to cause cancers and destroy wildlife. By 1966, the citizens of Lake Apopka, many of which have lost their jobs to the pollution, come together demanding action from the state.
The state, in turn, blames the citrus plants and threatens legal action against them, while beginning plans for a lake cleanup. Throughout the 1970s, the Florida state government worked to secure federal funding and began efforts with help from fisherman and farmers to clean the lake through multiple draining’s and fish kills.
Despite the state's effort, the worst happens in 1980. The Tower Chemical Company, a local pesticide and insecticide company disposes of DDE in ponds surrounding their facility, these ponds runoff into Lake Apopka, and create what is considered among the 115 worst environmental disasters in American history.
DDE is an offspring of the insecticide DDT, though it is considered worse in this instance not only because it causes male genital abnormalities in most species, but because the Tower Chemical Company had been mixing it with chlorine gas. This disaster was only discovered as locals dogs began dying after they drank from puddles. By April of 1980, the dying dogs and a foul odor from the company’s plant, caused locals to turn to the Pollution Control Board. The chairman of the Pollution Control Board, Ralph Roane, insisted that the fears of both the citizens and public officials were “unfounded”. Conveniently, Ralph Roane was also the president of the Tower Chemical Company.
DDE is an offspring of the insecticide DDT, though it is considered worse in this instance not only because it causes male genital abnormalities in most species, but because the Tower Chemical Company had been mixing it with chlorine gas. This disaster was only discovered as locals dogs began dying after they drank from puddles. By April of 1980, the dying dogs and a foul odor from the company’s plant, caused locals to turn to the Pollution Control Board. The chairman of the Pollution Control Board, Ralph Roane, insisted that the fears of both the citizens and public officials were “unfounded”. Conveniently, Ralph Roane was also the president of the Tower Chemical Company.
The EPA was called and ordered Roane to stop dumping chemicals from the plant, and an EPA spokesman noted the discharge was so strong it “would kill just about anything in its way”. Soon after, Roane fled the state, and the small steps towards recovery that had been made for Lake Apopka were erased.
The long-term effects of the dumping soon became evident.
The long-term effects of the dumping soon became evident.
Throughout the last twenty years of the 20th century, over a thousand birds would drop dead around the lake. The ones who survived were smaller, weaker, and commonly deformed. Other species, namely Alligators, were found to be mostly infertile or would be born with mutations.
The EPA has noted that while they can attempt to clean up the DDT present in the Lake and surrounding ecosystem, current technology is not capable of cleaning the insecticide, and believe it takes up to 100 years to breakdown naturally.
The EPA has noted that while they can attempt to clean up the DDT present in the Lake and surrounding ecosystem, current technology is not capable of cleaning the insecticide, and believe it takes up to 100 years to breakdown naturally.
By 1991, all hope seemed lost, even at the highest levels of government. The St. Johns Water Management District's governing board had proposed a bill giving the Zellwood Muck Farms the permanent right to dump polluted water into Lake Apopka.
A newspaper article covering the bill was titled "St. Johns River Water Management District Signs Lake Apopka Death Warrant.” It also stated, “There does not seem to be anyone in government who is able to protect the lake”.
A newspaper article covering the bill was titled "St. Johns River Water Management District Signs Lake Apopka Death Warrant.” It also stated, “There does not seem to be anyone in government who is able to protect the lake”.
That same year, a group of concerned citizens comprised of members of the community and the West Orange Chamber of Commerce would come together to form the group known as The Friends of Lake Apopka. Their first major accomplishment would be the Lake Apopka restoration act in 1996 when the state negotiated a buyout of the remaining muck farms and an end to phosphate and pesticide dumping. Without these citizens and their concern for their local ecosystem, the Lake would most likely have reached complete environment death by the beginning of the 21st century.
The Friends of Lake Apopka have worked to push through multiple legislative and community efforts including a Gizzard Shad program (the killing of polluted fish), deep soil inversion, and the reflooding of drained areas of the lake.
Today, while Lake Apopka is still too unstable to swim in, biodiversity is slowly returning as birds and fish return to the lake. The recreational areas around the lake have reopened, and tours of the lake are available by boat. There are even 11 miles of the north shore, which was once only polluted muck farms, which are now known as the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, allowing visitors from all around to witness the beauty of an ancient ecosystem which was almost lost forever.
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