There Is No Away

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JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12
Companion to the Action Army
Special Report “There Is No
Away” — a crisis report on the
water in South Florida and
Southern California.
 
 
THERE IS NO AWAY
THE WATER DETAIL
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 1 OF 11

JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
WHAT'S INSIDE
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12
 Start Here — the four words
 The Three Smoke Alarms — the dog, the manatee, the sea lion
Where Your Water Actually Goes
The Seven Moves
 Protect Your Animal — the field checklist

☐ My Water Numbers — fill in tonight
The Honest Page
Marching Orders — sign the house standard
Who to Call
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 2 OF 11

When you throw it away, flush it away, or hose it away
— it does not go away. It goes to the water. The water
goes to the animals. The animals are the smoke alarm. Two coasts. More than two thousand miles apart. On one,
a dog wades into a lake and cannot stand up by the time
he gets home. On the other, a pregnant sea lion hauls out
on the sand, poisoned from the inside. Down the coast, a
bus full of kids in wetsuits drives past their own beach —
closed for years.
Those are smoke alarms. This manual is what you do
about it.
START HERE
THE ONE RULE
HOW THIS MANUAL WORKS
THERE IS NO AWAY
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 3 OF 11

This is not a lecture on faraway rivers. This is a walk-around of your own yard,
your own driveway, and your own storm drain — the one you have never once
thought about. Seven moves. One fill-in page. One neighbor.
THE THREE SMOKE ALARMS
THE DOG — LAKE OKEECHOBEE
Blue-green algae is really a bacteria — cyanobacteria — and some blooms make a liver
or nerve poison. You cannot tell by looking whether a bloom is toxic. A dog swims with
his mouth open, gulps the water, then licks himself clean and swallows the poison off
his own coat. Symptoms can start within minutes. There is no antidote.
THE SEA LION — SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In early 2025, rescue teams along the Southern California coast fielded over 8,000 calls
in four months — more than 1,000 stranded sea lions and dolphins, over 500 rescued
and treated. The cause: domoic acid, a natural toxin from an ocean plankton bloom that
travels up the food chain into the brain. Scientists are still studying why recent blooms
are hitting harder — that part is not settled yet. What is settled: the sea lion is a sentinel
species. A smoke alarm.
THE MANATEE — THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON
Decades of nutrients — wastewater, leaking septic tanks, fertilizer runoff — clouded the water
until sunlight could not reach the bottom. More than 90% of the seagrass in parts of the lagoon
died. In 2021, 1,101 manatees died in Florida — roughly one in ten in the whole state — more
than half of them starving in that one lagoon. Wildlife agencies fed wild manatees lettuce by
hand to keep the species alive. Cut off the food for the algae, and seagrass can come back —
slowly, over a decade or more.
JOHNNY ACTION FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 4 OF 11

WHERE YOUR WATER ACTUALLY GOES
What walks through that door every week without anyone thinking twice:

Soap from washing the car in the driveway
 Grass clippings blown into the street
 A drip of oil under the car
 Fertilizer pellets bounced onto the sidewalk
 Dog waste nobody picked up
There is a grate at the curb near your house. The storm drain. In most cities, that
drain is not connected to any treatment plant. Nobody cleans that water. It runs
straight to a canal, a creek, a lagoon, or the ocean.
YOUR SINK GOES TO TREATMENT. YOUR STORM DRAIN GOES TO THE FISH.
EVERY STORM DRAIN IS A DOOR TO THE SEA.
None of us is the villain. But every one of us is a
drip — and a million drips is a river. A million
people turning off the drip can dry it up. That is
what an army is for.
In Florida there is a second door: the septic tank. A neglected tank,
never pumped, sitting near a canal, is a slow leak of nutrients into
the ground water and on to the lagoon.
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 5 OF 11
JOHNNY ACTION FIGHTS BACK!


 MOVE FIVE — THE TOILET IS NOT A TRASH CAN. Human waste and toilet paper — 
That’s the whole list. “Flushable” wipes clog pipes and help cause sewage
overflows. Grease goes in a can, not the sink. Old medicine goes to a take-back box,
not the drain.
 MOVE SIX — PICK UP ONE MORE THING. Cigarette butts, bottle caps, balloons, 
fishing line. Clear fishing line wraps around manatees, sea turtles, and pelicans
and cuts into them. Leave the beach, dock, and boat ramp cleaner than you found
them.
 MOVE SEVEN — PROTECT YOUR ANIMAL. If the water looks green, blue, scummy, or 
Foamy — or smells bad — leash your dog and walk away. Believe the posted sign. If your
dog gets into water you're not sure about, rinse him off with clean water before he licks
himself, and call your vet. Do not wait for symptoms.

MOVE ONE — PICK IT UP. Every time. The dog's waste goes in a bag, and the bag 
goes in the trash. Not the storm drain. Not the bushes.
 MOVE TWO — GO EASY ON THE FERTILIZER. Use less than the bag says, never right 
before a heavy rain, never near a canal, pond, or lake. Sweep pellets off the
sidewalk back onto the grass. Look up your local fertilizer ordinance tonight.
 MOVE THREE — NOTHING DOWN THE STORM DRAIN BUT RAIN. Wash the car on the 
lawn or at a recycling car wash. Fix the oil leak; take used motor oil to a collection
center. One oil change can contaminate a million gallons of fresh water.
 MOVE FOUR — TAKE CARE OF THE SEPTIC TANK. Get it inspected and pumped on 
schedule — most household tanks need it every three to five years. If you cannot
remember the last time, that is your answer.
THE SEVEN MOVES, CONTINUED
THE SEVEN MOVES
JOHNNY ACTION FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 6 OF 11

THERE IS NO AWAY
PROTECT YOUR ANIMAL — THE FIELD CHECKLIST
IF THE WATER LOOKS OR SMELLS WRONG


☐ Green, blue, pea-soup, scummy, or foamy — leash up and walk away
☐ A posted warning sign — believe it, no matter how the water looks
☐ Rained in the last 72 hours near the ocean — stay out of the surf
IF YOUR DOG ALREADY WENT IN
☐ Rinse him off with clean water immediately — before he can lick himself
☐ Watch for vomiting, weakness, stumbling, or seizures — minutes matter
☐ Call your vet right away — do not wait for symptoms to be sure
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
REMEMBER THE FOUR WORDS
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 7 OF 11
IF YOU FIND A STRANDED SEA LION, DOLPHIN, OR MANATEE
☐ Keep your distance — at least fifty yards
☐ Keep your dog away from the animal
☐ Call your local marine mammal stranding network or state wildlife hotline
☐ Do not push the animal back into the water — let the professionals do their job

MY WATER NUMBERS — FILL IN TONIGHT
________________________
 
__________________________
 
__________________________
 
__________________________
 
__________________________
 
__________________________
__________________________
 
Last septic tank pumping date:
Next pumping due (add 3–5 years):
My local fertilizer blackout dates/rules:
Nearest used-motor-oil collection site:
Nearest medicine take-back box:
My vet's phone number: 
My local marine mammal / wildlife stranding hotline:
Walk out to your own curb tonight and find your
storm drain. Point at it. Say it out loud: “That goes
straight to the water.” That is where this starts.
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 8 OF 11
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!

starvation in the Indian River Lagoon
The Tijuana River has forced Imperial Beach shoreline closures lasting well over 1,000 
consecutive days
☐  A 2025 domoic acid event caused the worst marine mammal stranding response Los 
Angeles County rescuers had seen
Exactly why recent domoic acid blooms are hitting harder and earlier — currents, upwelling, 
and water temperature are all being researched
☐ Whether household runoff plays a measurable role in any single stranding event — no
individual case is being claimed here
WHAT IS STILL BEING STUDIED
☐  Blue-green algae toxins have triggered do-not-drink, do-not-swim health warnings on Lake 
Okeechobee
☐ More than 1,100 Florida manatees died in 2021, tied largely to seagrass loss and
WHAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN
Nobody is calling any one person,
government, or country the villain. The
villain is the neglect — broken pipes, sat-on
decisions, and the nutrients everyone of us
can choose to stop sending downhill.
THE HONEST PAGE
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 9 OF 11

 ______________________________
______________________________
☐ I know my septic pumping schedule
☐ The toilet is not a trash can in my house
☐ I told one neighbor where their storm drain goes
☐ I pick up after my dog — every time
☐ I go easy on the fertilizer and check the local rules
☐ Nothing goes down my storm drain but rain
FIELD MANUAL NO. 14 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 1 OF 10
SIGNED
DATE WHO TO CALL
THE HOUSE STANDARDTHIS WEEK: Tell one neighbor where their storm drain goes. Walk to the curb with them.
Point at the grate. Say: “That goes straight to the water.” Then tell them about the Action
Army.
MARCHING ORDERS
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 10 OF 11

Marine mammal stranding / wildlife hotline: use your local network —
see page 9
Action Army: 855-88ACTION (855-
882-2846)
Johnny Action Army, PO Box 3492, Palm Beach,
FL 33480
JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM — free Action Army ID, good at participating merchants and
entertainment venues nationwide.
THERE IS NO AWAY. THERE IS ONLY THE WATER. AND THERE IS ONLY US.
JOHNNY ACTION
FIGHTS BACK!
FIELD MANUAL NO. 12 • FREE AT JOHNNYACTIONARMY.COM • PAGE 10 OF 11
WHO TO CALL