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Line Item Veto Scraps Turf Scrubbing Technology

WGCU | By Valerie Alker
Published May 21, 2013 at 10:20 AM EDT
Allen Stewart
/
Hydromentia

Gov. Rick Scott’s budget vetoes included $2,062,000 to help further develop nutrient control technology in Lee County. 

Kurt Harclerode, the county’s Natural Resources Operations Manager, said the vetoed funds would have been used to continue a pilot project investigating the removal of excess nitrogen from the water using “Algal Turf Scrubbing”.

“We were actually taking algal turf and growing it and running water through that to remove the nutrients,” he said.  “It would have been a great objective to remove more nutrients, to get that money in, to do innovative technologies.”

Nutrient overloads cause harmful algal blooms in the region’s already stressed marine estuaries. Harclerode said the county will continue its efforts to control algal blooms using existing technology and partnering with other agencies.
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Environment LocalEnvironmentTechnologyAlgal Blooms
Valerie Alker
Valerie Alker hosts All Things Considered. She has been a Reporter/Producer and program host at WGCU since 1991. She reports on general news topics in Southwest Florida and has also produced documentaries for WGCU-TV’s former monthly environmental documentary programs In Focus on the Environment and Earth Edition. Valerie also helps supervise WGCU news interns and contributes to NPR programs.
See stories by Valerie Alker
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