Jeff Vasilinda becomes the Vasilinda Family’s first published author!
May 4th, 2021 by Mike Vasilinda
Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried on Tuesday asked tough questions of the man who runs the State Department of Environmental Protection.
She wanted to know why decisions were made a decade ago not to close the former phosphate mine that leaked more than a quarter million gallons of nutrient rich contaminated water into Tampa Bay.
“Piney Point has been a ticking time bomb. And we know that there were letters and communications sent to DEP with the gravity of the upcoming situation. We are not going to allow Noah or this administration to push it under the rug and say everything is going to be okay. We’re throwing hundreds of millions of dollars, taxpayers dollars, to an environmental disaster with no, hey what happened? How did we get here?” said Fried.
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 by Amy Green (WMFE)
The Kissimmee River. Photo- Amy Green / WMFE
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Five Central Florida waterways are plaintiffs in a first-of-its kind lawsuit in the nation aimed at blocking a housing development in fragile wetlands.
The lawsuit argues the development violates the waterways’ rights to exist and flow freely without pollution.
The complaint was filed under a new Orange County charter amendment overwhelmingly approved last November, making it possible to sue on behalf of natural resources themselves.
Oceanport Mayor Jay Coffey was not immediately available for comment.
In a 2014 menhaden fish kill in the Shark River, several tons of menhaden were collected by local public works from Neptune and Belmar, volunteers and even prison inmates. The fish were brought to the Monmouth County landfill in Tinton Falls.
That kill was said to be caused by oxygen deprivation due to low river water levels that were caused in some part by sand deposited by superstorm Sandy that exasperated existing shoaling conditions on the river. The channels have since been dredged.
The menhaden die-off this spring is different. The fish are diseased and the dead fish are appearing in several tributaries of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.