News & Public Affairs

All four regions of Tampa Bay met water quality standards in 2012 listen

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Tags: water, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, nitrogen, fertilizer, pollution, seagrass, fertilizer ordinance

The water quality in Tampa Bay continues to improve.

Tuesday the Tampa Bay Estuary Program released results of their 2012 water quality survey and for the fourth time since assessments began in 1974 all geographic regions of the bay met quality targets.

Ed Sherwood is senior scientist at Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

Study could start talks on Hillsborough fertilizer ban listen

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Tags: Hillsborough County Commission, Environmental Protection Commission, EPA, FDEP, Tampa Bay Estuary, nitrogen, fertilizer ban

Thursday Hillsborough County Commissioners agreed to spend $25,000 more for a fertilizer study during their monthly meeting as the county’s Environmental Protection Commission. The findings could determine whether or not Hillsborough implements a fertilizer ordinance.

The money will come out of pollution recovery funds and is in addition to another $50,000 that has already been allocated to the study. According to Tom Ash, general manager for environmental monitoring for the Hillsborough ...