Army Corps Stops Discharges to St. Lucie Estuary, Mast Calls it 'Good News'

Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) is acknowledging what he believes to be a positive moment as the U.S. Army Corps has stopped importing “toxic discharges” from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie Estuary.

This comes after Rep. Mast called for the Army Corps to end the discharges.

“The Corps has already dumped more than 50 billion gallons of polluted Lake Okeechobee water into the St. Lucie Estuary,” said Rep. Mast. “According to test results, these discharges have produced poisonous blue-green algae that is more than twice as toxic as is safe for human contact.”

Furthermore, the Florida congressman described this situation as “good news,” but not worthy of any appreciation for the Army Corps.

“So, while this is good news, I won’t be rushing to say thank you for stopping.  These discharges never should have been happening in the first place. Of course, there’s still bad news also - The Army Corps is now being purposely ambiguous and hiding behind government speak about what would cause them to resume discharges,” said Mast.

Finally, Mast accused the Army Corps of “ignoring a federal law.”

“Make no mistake: should they try to pull another fast one, I will be waiting,” said Mast. “After all, the Army Corps has done little to foster trust and good will within our community. Even now, they’re ignoring a federal law requiring them to develop a plan to permanently end harmful discharges to the northern estuaries. So, while we’ve won a battle with this announcement, the war for clean water continues. I will continue to fight with every ounce of energy so that we do not have another lost summer.”

Recently, Rep. Mast – a former U.S. Army soldier and Israeli Defense Forces fighter described President Biden’s call for a ceasefire as an “appeasement” to the left wing of the Democratic Party.

“Joe Biden is trying to appease far-left lunatics by demanding Israel accept a ceasefire with terrorists,” said Rep. Mast. “Yet again, Biden is putting lives at risk in a desperate attempt to boost his poll numbers. We cannot abandon our best ally in the Middle East.”