News & Public Affairs
All four regions of Tampa Bay met water quality standards in 2012 listen
02/20/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
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.
Be the first to commentTampa City Council passes update to summertime fertilizer restrictions listen
04/20/12 Samuel JohnsonWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Water, Fertilizer, Environment
Tampa has an ordinance that restricts the sale and use of fertilizer during the summer months to cut down on water pollution. Thursday the council unanimously made minor changes to that ordinance.
The city council chamber was full of citizens and members of interest groups wearing pink stickers. The stickers reminded the council that they agree with the fertilizer ordinance and that it shouldn’t be watered down. The ordinance is intended to inhi...
Be the first to commentPinellas County Commissioners discuss water fees and cleaning up waterways listen
08/09/11 Sarah CurranWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas Board of County Commissioners, Susan Latvala, EPA water standards, EPA, fertilizer
Pinellas County Commissioners discussed a possible water tax decreases for residents at Tuesday morning’s public hearing. They also touched on the issue of next year’s Republican National Convention.
Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) spokesperson Corri Cutler says even though Pinellas and Pasco counties’ general tax fund will increase, residents may see a decrease in their water tax.
Be the first to comment“But what they will see is there won’t be a [Pinel...
NRDC releases beaches scorecard; Florida scores well except for effects of BP oil listen
06/29/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: NRDC, fertilizer, fertilizer ordinance, beaches
Tampa Bay Beaches will likely be packed this holiday weekend, and an environmental study out today ranks beaches nationwide on pollution and closures. Despite oil hitting the Panhandle last year, Florida Beaches as a whole didn’t fare too poorly.
"Beaches in Florida, the overall picture is that 4 percent of the samples exceeded national standards in 2010."
Jon Devine, senior lawyer i...
Be the first to commentTampa council approves fertilizer ban listen
06/23/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fertilizer, fertilizer ordinance, Florida Legislature, Tampa City Council
Tampa City Council approved an ordinance banning the sale of nitrogen and phosphorous lawn fertilizers during the rainy season. Environmentalists like Sierra Club field organizer Cris Costello hailed the measure as key environmental protection.
She said this makes Tampa the largest city in the state to adopt such a law. Supporters were time-pressed to get the measure passed. State lawmakers passed a law during session creating a statewide fertilizer policy for Florida cities and counties t...
Be the first to commentTampa City Council closer to rainy season ban on nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer listen
06/02/11 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa, Tampa City Council, Sierra Club, Phil Compton, Linda Saul-Sena, Mary Mulhern, fertilizer, fertilizer ordinance, algae blooms, Frank Reddick, Hugh Gramling, SWFWMD, Tampa Bay
Tampa City Council has passed on first reading a fertilizer ordinance that would cut down on the pollution that drains from lawns into the region’s waterways, including Tampa Bay. The excess nutrients lead to algae blooms. Five members of the public spoke in opposition to the ban this morning. But double that number, including local Sierra Club representative Phil Compton, urged Council to support a rainy-season ban on sale and use of nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer.
Be the first to comment"This is an approac...
Tampa moves forward on summertime fertilizer ban listen
05/26/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Tampa City Council, Sierra Club, fertilizer ordinance, fertilizer, EPA, Rick Scott
A state law preventing summertime fertilizer bans goes into effect July 1. Tampa City Council could beat the deadline by taking up the first reading of a fertilizer ordinance next week.
The good news for environmentalists? The Tampa City Council unanimously agreed to discuss a fertilizer ban at the next city council meeting. The bad news? An unrelated workshop item on today’s city council workshop agenda went well beyond its allotted time, so the specifics of the proposal are yet to be det...
Be the first to commentHillsborough Commissioners vote not to ban fertilizer use in summer listen
07/15/10 Matthew CimitileWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: fertilizer, fertilizer ordinance, environment, water
Hillsborough County Commissioners voted 5-2 this morning not to ban the use of fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus during the summer rainy season. They made their decision in their role as the board of the Environmental Protection Commission in front of an audience filled with fertilizer representatives and environmentalists.
After months of debates and delays, Hillsborough County Commissioners decided not to follow the precedent set by Sarasota and Pinellas Counties. Hillsbor...
Be the first to commentThree feet of muck lines portions of Tampa Bay floor listen
06/18/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: environment, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, water quality, fertilizer, fertilizer ordinance, Hillsborough County Commission, Pinellas Board of County Commissioners, Tampa Bay Estuary Program
Right now there may not be any crude lapping onto the shores of Tampa Bay, but water quality here has certainly seen better days, especially in the bay’s upper parts. A thick layer of muck covers much of the bottom of upper Tampa Bay, but scientists say there are a couple of easy fixes.
It’s shaping up to be a scorcher as Ed Sherwood, a scientist with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, drops what looks like a solid metal trap into the waters of Old Tampa Bay. It’s attached to a long rope. He p...
Be the first to commentHillsborough Commission hears updates on oil spill and stricter fertilizer ordinance listen
05/20/10 Matthew CimitileWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: water, offshore oil drilling, fertilizer
The Hillsborough County Commission met earlier today to hear an update of the oil spill and the likelihood of potential impacts on Tampa Bay. They also discussed preventing damage to Tampa Bay from a major on-shore pollution source – that is, residential fertilizers.
In August of 1993, a freighter and two barges collided, dumping over 360,000 gallons of oil, jet fuel and gasoline into Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay’s worst oil spill contaminated 13 miles of beaches and injured sea turtles, birds, ...
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