This year a water management district in north Florida will decide whether to allow the company Nestlé a renewal of a permit to take water from the Santa Fe River basin and bottle it for sale at supermarkets. Last Thursday the city commission of High Springs, northwest of Gainesville heard from opponents and some supporters… Read more »
Florida springs supporters will protest what they call "Nestlé Water Grab"
Read MorePublic meeting on Mosaic renewal permit for pollutant discharge
Read MoreU.S. House passes drilling ban off Florida; not likely to pass Senate
Read MoreUpdate: "toilet-to-tap" tabled; Tampa City Council will vote on utility rate increase, sewer infrastructure
Read MoreWater activist opposes Nestlé's plan to bottle 1 million gallons a day from Florida springs
Read MoreFlorida clean water activists say: it’s not a fracking ban if matrix acidizing is allowed
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"Rally to Protect Florida's Water" in Bradenton
Read MoreRon DeSantis directs Florida DEP to oppose fracking and off-shore drilling
Read MoreEverglades Foundation irate that sugar lease extended on reservoir land
Read MoreFrom the Beaches to the Springs How Do We Protect Florida's Waters?
Read MoreManatee deaths on the rise in Florida, partially due to toxic red tide algae
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Is another type of algae bloom – Sargassum – coming to a beach near you?
The Gulf Coast of Florida is already dealing with two different algae blooms: a red tide on many beaches south of Manatee County and blue-green algae spilling into the Gulf from Lake Okeechobee; but now outbreaks of a larger species of seaweed have even reached Florida. Beginning about seven years ago, beaches throughout the Caribbean Sea… Read more »
Lake Okeechobee algae bloom spreading toward both Florida coasts
Because of recent heavy rains, huge algae blooms from polluted Lake Okeechobee are once again racing toward Florida’s west and east coast as water is released from the quickly-filling lake. Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch is the former mayor of Sewell’s Point, near where the St. Lucie River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. WMNF News spoke with her… Read more »
St. Pete City Council committee favors voluntary plastic straw reduction over ban
Next month, St. Pete City Council will consider an ordinance to comprehensively look at how the city deals with all kinds of disposable plastics: from straws, to bags and polystyrene containers. In a committee today the focus was entirely on plastic straws: should there be a ban – as requested by environmentalists – or a… Read more »
Environmentalist wary of Mosaic moving corporate headquarters to Hillsborough
The giant fertilizer company Mosaic announced last week that it plans to move its corporate headquarters from Minnesota to Hillsborough County; the announcement by the Fortune 500 company was greeted by many local leaders with delight. But environmentalists, like Suncoast Waterkeeper Andy Mele, accuse Mosaic of being a detriment to the community. “I think Mosaic’s… Read more »
Hands Across the Sand 2018 preview
Every spring, beach lovers across Florida – and in other parts of the world – gather to hold Hands Across the Sand to oppose offshore oil and gas drilling. Jana Wiggins is a volunteer with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Rise Above Plastics and is helping to organize what might be the Tampa Bay area’s… Read more »
Wetlands scientists support states’ lawsuit to save Clean Water Rule
Several states are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for putting on hold an Obama-era rule to protect wetlands and waterways. And this month an organization of wetlands scientists filed a brief with the court in support of those states and the Clean Water Rule of 2015. Royal Gardner,… Read more »
Remodeled Riverfront Park is backdrop for Bob Buckhorn’s State of the City address
Tampa unveiled its newly-remodeled Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park Friday morning for Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s State of the City address. Buckhorn praised the $35 million renovation and the city staff who worked on it. Before his speech, the City showed a polished video with the theme “Finish Strong” that looked back at a tough year… Read more »
Zinke: “no new oil and gas platforms off the coast of Florida”
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said again Thursday that there will be no new oil and gas platforms off the state of Florida; his position on drilling off the coasts of Florida has been confusing this year. He was challenged Thursday in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen regarding draft regulations… Read more »
A young person suing Florida Governor Rick Scott on climate change inaction: on WMNF’s MidPoint Monday
On MidPoint Monday we heard from one of the young people suing Florida Governor Rick Scott and others in the state government over their inaction on climate change. We had two guests: 18-year-old college freshman and climate activist Delaney Reynolds and Tampa-area attorney Guy Burns, a Managing Partner at Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, LLP. Reynolds is… Read more »
St. Pete businesses unveil voluntary plastics-reduction program; environmentalists want more
This Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council will begin to discuss how to reduce the amount of single-use plastics in the city; and Tuesday morning a coalition of restaurant owners and civic groups unveiled a new campaign for businesses to voluntarily reduce the use of plastic straws. But for some environmentalists, that doesn’t go far… Read more »
UPDATED: Will Rick Scott sign “toilet to tap” legislation?
UPDATE, Friday 6 April 2018: Governor Rick Scott has vetoed this bill. In the veto statement, Scott said “I’m not convinced that this legislation will not muddle Florida’s protection of our aquifers.” A Florida bill recently passed by the state legislature would allow more treated sewage to be pumped into the aquifer; it’s a bill that… Read more »
Industry still dumping pollution into Florida waterways: report
In less than 2 years industrial facilities dumped more pollution than allowed into Florida waters 270 times; that’s according to a new report from the Environment Florida Research & Policy Center called Troubled Waters. During a press conference Thursday morning along the shore of Hillsborough Bay at Ballast Point Park, Tampa-area Congress member Kathy Castor… Read more »
Students find low levels of lead in South St. Pete water
Journalism graduate students at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg have found low levels of lead in drinking water samples taken in the homes of middle school students in South St. Pete. WMNF News interviewed one participant, Andrea Perez, a Master’s student at USF St. Pete. “Dr. Bernardo Motta, he is the director of… Read more »
