Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Hunter Crenian
A law that would have allowed the state to close beaches if testing revealed the water does not meet the state’s health requirements has been rejected by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis made the announcement this week, even though just two months prior, Florida residents had received a swimming advisory due to “fecal pollution.”
In the event that the law passed, local governments in charge of public beaches and swimming areas would have been required to notify the Department of Health anytime water quality tests revealed lower-than-recommended levels of safety.
The Health Department then “shall require the closure of beach waters and public bathing places that fail to meet the department’s standards if it deems closure is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public,” according to the law.
However, Desantis said in his veto letter that the bill “suffers from a fatal infirmity” since it gives the Florida Department of Health (DOH) the power to close swimming pools, beaches, and waterways.
“Health departments such as DOH can have a useful role, but they shouldn’t have the authority to overrule local governments when it comes to managing beaches,” he stated.
“I have made water quality and protecting Florida’s natural resources a priority and my Administration will continue to do so, but this grant of power to DOH over Florida beaches is ill-advised.”
Health advisories were issued for Dubois Park, Sandoway-Delray Beach, and South Inlet Park by the Florida Department of Health as part of the Palm Beach County Healthy Beaches program on June 13.
The findings of the sampling placed the beaches in the “poor” category since there were more than 71 colonies of bacteria per milliliter of marine water.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that anything deemed “poor” should be “considered a potential health risk to the bathing public.”
The same department advised locals not to swim at a number of beaches, including Jupiter’s Midtown Beach and Dubois Park, toward the end of April.
The department stated that the presence of significant levels of enterococcus bacteria in the water in these two places “is an indication of fecal pollution.”
It further stated that swimmers may be at “increased risk of illness” because to this, which may “come from stormwater runoff, pets and wildlife, and human sewage.”
The water quality was classified as “poor” at both locations, indicating that there were 71 or more enterococci per 100 milliliters of sea water.
Infections caused by enterococci “are typically not considered harmful to humans, but their presence in the environment may indicate that other disease-causing agents such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa [a microorganic parasite] may also be present,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
When Newsweek emailed DeSantis’s press office to inquire about this context, they were forwarded to his veto letter.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
