Lake Apopka Farmworkers Environmental Health Project

In the 1990’s Lake Apopka rose to international attention as the most polluted large lake in Florida. A mix of run off pesticides and fertilizer and a 1980’s spill of DDT caused deformities in alligators and a massive bird mortality in 1998. The Lake Apopka Farmworkers Environmental Health Project was developed in response to the health concerns expressed by the community of former Lake Apopka farmworkers after the closing of the vegetable farms on the North shore of the lake in 1998.  

This report from 2006 is a compilation of 148 health surveys conducted with the former Lake Apopka farmworker community in 2005.