The Florida Microplastic Awareness Project has found plastic pollution in waters across nearly all of Florida; so, what does that mean for human health and the environment? To find out, WMNF News spoke with David Hastings, a marine scientist and chemical oceanographer. He’s a professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. Listen: Watch: … Read more »
The first scientific study has just been published connecting human health problems with the dispersants used by BP after its 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster; our guest on WMNF News’ MidPoint was Tampa Bay Times staff writer Craig Pittman. In April of 2010 an explosion rocked BP’s oil rig, killing 11 people and setting off an… Read more »
The National Weather Service has extended Flood Warnings for several area rivers after Hurricane Irma, including the Anclote River at Elfers, the Little Manatee River at Wimauma, the Hillsborough River near Hillsborough River State Park, the Hillsborough River at Morris bridge and for the Horse Creek near Arcadia. On Thursday WMNF News interviewed Robin Caton, a… Read more »
A Tampa mosque and allied organizations are gathering supplies to bring to Hurricane Harvey survivors in Texas Thursday. Here’s the Facebook event page for the supply drive organized by the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay, Penny Appeal, and Love Has No Borders. To find out what types of supplies are needed and how people can… Read more »
On Monday’s Sustainable Living program we talked about climate change, renewable energy, and plans for action. The St Petersburg Area League of Women Voters is hosting an upcoming Sustainability Summit that will be addressing these issues. Joining us were two members of the League of Woman Voters Sustainability Action Team, Lisa Vanover and Claire Karas. Also… Read more »
On Tuesday a federal appeals court struck a blow to the Sabal Trail pipeline that carries natural gas for hundreds of miles through Florida; to find out how the decision could impact controversial pipelines across the country, WMNF News spoke with Frank Jackalone, Florida chapter director of Sierra Club. Listen: “Pipeline fighters all across the country… Read more »
On MidPoint, we heard from a woman who has been pressuring Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran to take a stance on a fracking ban; we also talked about what’s at stake in upcoming government meetings on transportation, including Tampa Bay Next. Nathalia Assaad is a volunteer with Food & Water Watch. She grew up in… Read more »
One proposed solution to St. Petersburg’s wastewater treatment capacity problem is to re-open a facility that was closed in 2015; the Tampa Bay Times recently reported on a draft investigation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that placed blame for the massive sewage spills of the last two years both on previous administrations… Read more »
On MidPoint Monday we talked about a move by some residents of St. Petersburg, Florida to ban single-use plastic bags; Davey Connor, chair of the Suncoast Rise Above Plastics Coalition, spoke about a St. Petersburg City Council meeting on Thursday (27 July) where a committee will discuss an ordinance to ban single-use plastic bags. They’re calling the… Read more »
On MidPoint we talked about efforts by environmentalists to oppose a waste processing facility on public lands in Sarasota County near land known as the Celery Fields; community activist Adrien Lucas and Luigi Verace with Stand Up Fight Back SRQ are trying to stop the proposed waste processing facility. Listen to the whole show here:… Read more »
Update, Thursday 13 July 2017: The day after announcing its largest wastewater treatment plant was prepared for another major rain event, the City of St. Petersburg had an overflow of about 50,000 gallons of “mostly treated” wastewater during a heavy rain event Wednesday night. The city says no water was lost from the plant property; it… Read more »
A half dozen residents of Forest Hills demonstrated outside Raymond James Stadium Thursday against plans to fumigate a golf course near their homes; next Tuesday the Tampa Sports Authority plans to apply the pesticide Curfew to the Babe Zaharias Golf Course to kill worms called nematodes. But Jillian Harber, who lives on the golf course… Read more »
A Hillsborough County company is asking the county for permission to spread tons of human sewage waste over its property along the Manatee River system; but environmental activist Mariella Smith is fighting back against the proposal by Chris’s Plumbing Service. She calls it a ‘sludge farm’. “Chris’s Plumbing Service runs a huge commercial septic operation…. Read more »
Environmentalists in Manatee County will protest a proposed Bradenton waterfront development tomorrow; Jane von Hahmann is a former Manatee County Commissioner and is the vice president of the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, or FISH, in the village of Cortez. “First of all, understand that I live in the oldest commercial fishing village in the… Read more »
On Saturday there are at least three local marches in the Tampa Bay area in solidarity with the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. In Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa people will gather to draw attention to skyrocketing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, rising air, land and ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, rising sea levels and… Read more »
A pipeline that will carry natural gas from Alabama through Georgia into Central Florida is nearly complete; but the Sierra Club is still challenging the Sabal Trail pipeline in court. On Tuesday, Sierra Club staff attorney Elly Benson argued before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, should not… Read more »
The Mayor of Dade City in Pasco County is asking the Florida Legislature for a statewide fracking ban; in a press conference this morning at City Hall, Mayor Camille Hernandez called on House Speaker Richard Corcoran to help a bill banning the oil and gas drilling technique work its way through his chamber. “The exploration… Read more »
The Mosaic fertilizer company has gotten approval for expanded phosphate mining in eastern Manatee County, with some slight modifications to its proposal. The Manatee County Commission approved a change in zoning Wednesday for about 3,800 acres. The zoning was changed from agriculture to mining / extraction. A special land use meeting was in its third… Read more »
A Tampa resident is worried that the Tampa Sports Authority will fumigate a public golf course in her neighborhood with a toxic pesticide. Debra McCormack, CEO of the marketing company Tampa Communications and past president of the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association and wants to make sure the chemical Curfew (with 1,3-dichloropropene) doesn’t get used at the… Read more »
Hillsborough County is considering an ordinance to deal with wastewater; environmentalists say overall that’s a good thing but there’s concern about one aspect: a proposal to allow higher levels of some industrial toxins in wastewater before it gets treated. Kent Bailey, chair of Tampa Bay Sierra Club met with some members of county staff Friday… Read more »
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