“Federal Do No Harm Act” put in place to help business owners financially if algae blooms return

A new law put in place aims to help business owners in Florida who could be affected by algae blooms.

The “Federal Do No Harm Act” was put into place to assist business owners who lose money from the algae blooms that devastated South Florida last year.

The level of help people would receive would depend on how badly the environment and economy suffer.

Some residents think that the issue will not be an if it happens, but when it happens.

“It’s not if we need it. As long as they dump water out of lake O it’s going to be when we need it,” said Peter Formica of Cape Coral.

In an attempt to minimize water releases from Lake Okeechobee, crews started relocating about 800,000 cubic yards of rock to store water south of the lake.