On Thursday the Manatee County Planning Commission recommended changes sought by the Mosaic Fertilizer company that could lead to more phosphate mining in the east end of the county; but during an all-day meeting sixteen members of the public spoke out against the changes and against phosphate mining in general. Debbie Mafera and her husband live… Read more »
We look at phosphate mining in Florida: what it’s used for, how it’s mined and its effects on the environment, water and public health. Listen to the full show here: The first half of the show is a presentation by Andy Mele. He’s vice chair of the Manatee-Sarasota Sierra Club group and spoke last week at the… Read more »
In July a wildfire on protected Egmont Key burned eighty acres of habitat; but an environmentalist says it may have actually benefited the wildlife on the island at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Dave Howard is director of Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges. “A lightning strike occurred. And we lost about – or… Read more »
Photo by Brian Simms We are happy to be back after a two-week break….thanks to those who let us know you missed us….. We hope you enjoyed the convention coverage by Democracy Now! Less than 100 days to go… And it was a very historic moment for women. It is a milestone for there to… Read more »
There’s another medium-sized oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico region – this time it’s impacting water and wetlands in Barataria Bay, south of New Orleans. Scott Eustis is coastal wetlands specialist at Gulf Restoration Network and flew over the spill on Wednesday. WMNF News spoke with him by phone Thursday afternoon. Eustis says what he saw of… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160728_110617_radioactivityR1_191.MP3 BY Rob Lorei On Radioactivity Thursday our guest was Congresswoman Gwen Graham who is at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. Congresswoman. Graham is a Democrat who represents Tallahassee in Washington DC. She’s also the daughter of former Senator and Governor Bob Graham. Host Rob Lorei spoke with her about the convention, Donald Trump’s email remarks and the controversial… Read more »
Several environmental groups are suing the National Park Service to stop oil and gas exploration in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. Jaclyn Lopez is Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups. She says permitted oil exploration in Big Cypress by Texas-Based Burnett Oil Company could harm drinking water and affect many… Read more »
Last summer heavy rains led St. Petersburg to dump millions of gallons of stormwater mixed with untreated sewage into Clam Bayou and Tampa Bay – the dangerous fecal bacteria in the water led to closed beaches and waterways; but new research led by biologists at the University of South Florida on a sewer line break that… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160714_110618_radioactivityR1_191.MP3 By Rob Lorei On Radioactivity Thursday we looked at the possible weakening of regulations regarding hazardous chemicals by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Environmentalists are warning that the agency is quietly trying implement changes that could significantly impact Florida’s water quality. We were joined by a South Florida activist Joanne Oyen who is… Read more »
Florida’s House District 70 is gerrymandered to take in small parts of four counties, including the Sunshine Skyway Bridge; so many Democratic voters from South Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota Counties are packed into the cross-shaped district that the winner of August’s Democratic Primary should prevail in November as well. The three Democrats fighting for… Read more »
Part of a major Tampa Bay cleanup effort scheduled for Saturday will be canceled because of a Donald Trump rally; the presumptive Republican nominee for president will speak at the Tampa Convention Center and it means that volunteer divers won’t be able to clean up a pier along Bayshore Boulevard. Tom Damico is environmental program coordinator… Read more »
Because of flooding from Tropical Storm Colin this week several cities in Pinellas County urged residents to stop using the sewer systems and had to release partially treated wastewater into the open water. Beginning at 4:00 p.m Tuesday the City of St. Petersburg discharged partially treated wastewater into Tampa Bay about one-quarter of a mile east… Read more »
St. Petersburg City Council will soon consider an ordinance to ban the drilling technique known as fracking and the transportation or storage of fracking wastewater within the city limits; Council vice chair Darden Rice says fracking for natural gas is too risky for St. Pete’s regional water supply, climate change and rising seas. Listen to the… Read more »
I am getting steamed – really, really steamed. If I hear one more comment on “the women’s card…..” Read Rebecca Solnit’s column, “If Donald Trump Were a Woman and Hillary Clinton Were a Man: Here’s what the election would look like” (posted on our Facebook page ). This election campaign is turning the spotlight on… Read more »
Florida Senate Appropriations Chair Tom Lee’s home county has just come out against a fracking bill that will get its next hearing in that committee; on Wednesday the Hillsborough County Commission passed a resolution to oppose the bill to study and regulate hydraulic fracturing at the same time it forbids local governments from banning the… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160129_110617_radioactivityF1_337.MP3 By Rob Lorei During last nights GOP debate, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said democratic candidate Bernie Sanders ” is a good candidate — for president of Sweden. We don’t want to be Sweden, we want to be the United States of America.”, reiterating a common attack of Sanders’ socialist leanings as un-American. Our guest for the… Read more »
Hillsborough County will not file a legal challenge to a permit to pump water from a sinkhole in sensitive wetlands near the Hillsborough River. That’s after meetings by the region’s water management district produced a compromise with the county’s Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) and environmentalists. On Tuesday County Commissioners went along with EPC staff recommendations to… Read more »
Unless they can work out differences by next week, it’s possible that several local governments will end up on opposite sides of a legal battle about whether to pump water from a sinkhole in sensitive wetlands near the Hillsborough River; water from Morris Bridge Sink is one part of a plan to restore freshwater flow… Read more »
The region’s water management district has rejected Hillsborough County’s request for more time to consider a plan to pump water from a sinkhole located in sensitive wetlands; and after several environmentalists spoke out against pumping water from Morris Bridge Sink during Wednesday’s county commission meeting, Commissioner Les Miller announced that the county would move the timing of… Read more »
There has been a lot of talk about the recent COP 21 agreement in Paris, where almost 200 countries came together and agreed to cut emissions and the global temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius. We thought it would be great idea for us to speak with Dipti Bhatnagar , climate justice and energy coordinator… Read more »
Hillsborough County Commissioners oppose a plan to pump water from a sinkhole near Thonotosassa as one source to restore flow to the Lower Hillsborough River; meeting as the county’s Environmental Protection Commission Thursday morning, commissioners unanimously voted to ask the region’s water management district for an extension to challenge the permit to pump. And if… Read more »
Residents are asking for a delay in a permit to pump water from a sinkhole located in wetlands near Thonotosassa until other sources of water can be considered; they say pumping water from Morris Bridge Sink to augment freshwater flow to the Lower Hillsborough River could damage nearby wells, cause sinkholes or harm the ecosystem…. Read more »
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) has asked the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for permission to pump water out of the Morris Bridge Sink near Thonotosassa; the DEP has just issued its notice of intent to allow the project to proceed. It’s part of a plan to restore water flow and ecological health… Read more »
By Rob Lorei In October, phosphate mining giant Mosaic reached a $2 billion agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to settle a lawsuit regarding the mishandling of toxic material at 6 mines in Florida and two in Louisiana. But a local environmental group says the deal does not do enough. Joining us talk about the… Read more »
By Rob Lorei If you’ve been thorough rural areas of Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee, Manatee or Sarasota counties, you’ve probably noticed large mounds of earth dotting the landscape; these are landfills for toxic waste from phosphate and gypsum mining. Last Month, the EPA and the Mosaic corporation,which operates many of the mines, reached a $2 billion… Read more »
