Algae cleanup an uphill battle in North Fort Myers

Neighbors  in the waterway Estates neighborhood in North Fort Myers say they’re  worried about their health when it comes to algae in the river and canals.

Lee County officials plan to release water quality test results as early as Thursday, which will tell us how toxic the gunk is.

As of Wednesday, the algae is coming back into a canal after it was cleaned last Friday. Less than a week after clean up, algae is once again clogging canals in North Fort Myers.

Roger Barlow lives on of the canals in Waterway Estates and says things are worse now than they were before cleanup, “Maybe this vacuuming stuff isn’t going to get it or maybe make sure it’s out in one area before moving to another area … they need to throw more manpower at it even more machines or maybe rethink the whole process and maybe that’s not the best answer”

Lee County officials say they will continue to fight this uphill battle, and hopefully find the best results. They’re dealing with many factors such as consistency, thickness, quantity and chemical makeup of the algae.

Cleanup is expected to go on for another couple weeks and officials say the location is determined the morning of each day of cleanup.