SEMINOLE, Fla. (WFLA) — Residents living on a Lake Seminole canal are fed up with an invasive plant, saying it has looked more like a field for months now. After calling on the county to help and not getting results, they decided to reach out to 8 On Your Side.

Jennifer Burkart Hartog said she has been dealing with the issue for six months. Hartog said her family is unable to get in or out of their canal on their boat because it’s filled with an invasive plant called the water hyacinth.

Hartog said she, and many neighbors alike, believe the issue was caused by the county’s recent multi-million dollar dredging project that just took place from January to October on Lake Seminole.

However, county employees told us that’s not true. They said these are floating plants that were never attached to the ground and he blamed the problem on the recent wind patterns.

“They’re extremely invasive, they’re also a floating plant. As soon as we started getting those winds from east to west, it started dispersing those plants moving them around the lake,” Lake Seminole Dredging Project Manager Rob Burnes said.

“Ultimately who is responsible? At this point we don’t care who caused the problem, my bigger concern is…who is going to fix it?” Hartog said to Christine McLarty on Thursday.

McLarty took that question to Burnes, who said the county is working on fixing the problem.

Burnes said they hired a contractor in August for $40,000 but ended the contract when they didn’t see results.

Burnes said they hope to have Pinellas County Public Works employees out next week, weather permitting, to start cleaning.

Burnes said the county is also working to hire another contractor to start in December. He said while the work may be quoted in the price range of six figures, they’re still working out the details of what will be approved and how much the next contract will actually cost.

Burnes said the goal is to have the lake rid of water hyacinth by February 2021. When we relayed the message Hartog, she said she’ll believe it when she sees it.

Hartog said, in the meantime, they’ll keep paying for waterfront property they can’t use.

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