APOPKA, Fla.,None — Despite a reputation of being the most polluted large lake in the state, Lake Apopka is much cleaner than ever before, according to state water managers.
But WFTV's Berndt Petersen found out why critics think the $150 million clean-up that tax dollars funded for years has failed.
Theo Graham never misses a morning along Lake Apopka. Happy memories from the state's second-largest lake date all the way back to 1934.
"This was the first lake I saw. To me, it looked like the ocean," Graham said. "When you're a kid, it makes an impression on you if you catch fish."
And did he ever. Back then, Lake Apopka was Central Florida's main attraction.
"If you went out on this lake when it was good, and you didn't catch some fish---you were a poor fisherman. All you got to do is put the pole in," Graham said.
That was then. This is now: "You can smell it. It smells like rotten eggs," said Skip Goerner.
Goerner is one of the harshest critics of the state's effort to clean the lake. The taxpayers' tab is $150 million and counting.
"Has there been a lot of money wasted? I believe so. That's the short answer," Goerner said.
The lake is full of fluid muck. It is blamed on 50 years of farming along the shore, and the dumping of municipal sewage.
When it's dead calm, the sediment settles on the bottom of the lake, with very clear water on top. But were a lot of boats to speed through, or a hurricane track over the lake, and the muck would surface.
WFTV collected a sample off the lake's north shore and took it in for testing.
Lake County's laboratory manager Cathie Catasus said it's a mixture of dead and decayed plants, algae and dirt.
"The brown stuff -- scientifically and put simply -- is muck," Catasus said.
"Would you eat fish that swim in that?" WFTV asked. "Ehhhh. It would depend," Catasus said.
But Hank Largin of St. Johns River Water Management said he insists conditions are rapidly improving. The state bought the surrounding farms. St. Johns has restored thousands of acres of wetlands. And systems are set up around the lake to clean every drop. Largin said water clarity has improved by 53 percent.
"Is there still bad stuff in Lake Apopka? Yes," Largin said. But "some of the critics were saying, 'you can never do this.'"
Theo Graham is not among those critics. He said he has faith in the taxpayer-funded restoration. Will he live to see it through? He's 85. But when he looks out, he can still see the Lake Apopka of old.
"Well, you remember it because you were a kid. And that's where you caught your first fish," Graham said.
WFTV
