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I spoke with Fl Department of Health in Escambia County, Diector of Environmental Health, Greg Berrian today. If toxins produced by algae are not very lethal and since there was no apparent sign of algae in the water at the time the dog was playing fetch with her owner, Glenn Flowers, it may have been a more lethal toxin of some sort. WEAR TV 3 news reported tonight several dogs have died.
Even though International Paper diverted the effluent several years ago into a wetland area south of the area of the creek where the dog seems to have come in contact with a powerful toxin, there may be leaks in the pipes carrying the 24 million gallons per day of discharge. There is also the possibility that some of the chemicals that were discharged directly into Eleven Mile Creek for decades may be present in some manner in the silt.
The area needs to be tested for the type of chemicals known to have been discharged, including Dioxin. Scientists and people taking the samples should be very careful. A scientist mentioned that perhaps there are even pockets of accumulated toxic gasses that might have been released when the dog was frolicking in the creek. Whatever it is, it was powerful and lethal to the large dog and it does not seem like an algae toxin would have had that type of affect. I hope Director Berrian will contact the Veterinarian and the FL Health Department's toxicology division and determine what they should be testing for. Also, we trust the FDEP and Escambia County environmental scientists and staff will find out what is going on and get it cleaned up.
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