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Martin County says toxic water costs county $5 million

Posted at 11:54 PM, Mar 29, 2017
and last updated 2019-03-26 13:30:58-04

Martin County tourism leaders say the county saw a loss of nearly $5 million tourism dollars in 2016 compared to the previous year. 

RELATED: More toxic water coverage

It's the result of an environmental study that looks for the impact weather and water quality have on tourism. 

The county can't say how much algae alone can be blamed on the loss, but they are certain business owners and residents could feel the hit. 

"You can look at the indirect impact from that, so, I'm a restaurant and people aren't coming so then I don't need to have my dry cleaning done, I don't need to purchase any food, I don't need to do these things, I don't have as many servers on, so that's the indirect impact that's impacting the residents per se," said Nerissa Okiye, Martin County Marketing and Tourism Manager. 

Martin County Tourism says the state overall saw about 1.3 percent growth in tourism.