Sen. Nelson holds roundtable event in North Fort Myerson toxic algae

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Sen. Bill Nelson hold roundtable discussion in North Fort Myers. Credit: WINK News

There’s a lot of concern about what that nasty, blue-green algae can do to our health, and it’s getting the attention of our political leaders.

Senator Bill Nelson campaigned in North Fort Myers Friday, hosting a roundtable with environmentalists and health care leaders about the toxic blooms.

One of those neighbors is Linda Jones, she says the algae is so bad in the canal behind her home that just walking out into her yard makes her sick, “At this point, if you go outside you will literally vomit. We can’t use our swimming pool. We can’t put our boat in the water. I don’t have 7 to 10 years to wait for a solution. I want to know what, if anything, is it toxic where I live.”

Jones told us she came here in search of solutions.

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You can hear the frustration there in the room, so we asked Senator Nelson what he’s doing to combat the problem.

But, Nelson put the blame for the algae directly on Governor Rick Scott, accusing him of gutting the state environmental agencies, and says the problem won’t be fixed change until he’s out of office

Nelson said “This problem has been developing for a long time. Especially accelerated over the last 8 years of Governor Scott’s reign. I understand you don’t like finger pointing, but you gotta tell the truth. And you gotta tell who is responsible for what is happening and it’s right here in that water right now. ”

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The office of Gov. Scott released this statement: “We took action in Florida to secure state funding for Lake Okeechobee, pass legislation to accelerate the EAA reservoir and get a commitment from the president’s administration to speed up this important project.”

But many residents in Southwest Florida just want a solution, quick.

Watch the entire roundtable discussion below:

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