USF scientists announce initial findings from Piney Point research effort
USF scientists release findings from Piney Point research
and last updated 2021-05-24 21:23:25-04
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. â After millions of gallons of contaminated water were drained into Tampa Bay last month, USF scientists say the good news is that the short-term impacts on the bay are not as bad as expected, but the long-term effect is still unknown.
The threat of a collapsing gypsum stack at Piney Point forced the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to drain more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay.
The efforts saved the stack from collapsing but the impact of the polluted water in Tampa Bay is something USF scientists and many organizations have been trying to figure out ever since.
Additional soil contamination near the site of the planned workforce housing development on College Road has further delayed the start of construction on the affordable rental complex.
A new, small area of pesticide-contaminated soil on city-owned land off College Road on Stock Island needs to be removed before the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will give the go-ahead for construction to begin. The location of the polluted soil is a parcel adjacent to the planned housing complex currently rented by the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. It should be removed sometime next week, according to Steve McAlearney, city engineering director.
âItâs very small, a few truckloads [of contaminated soil], if that,â he said.
Monday s Daily Pulse | 5/24/2021
The first of three tax-free weeks starts Friday. Here’s what Floridians will save on
Florida consumers will save on hurricane and school supplies as well as concert tickets and outdoor gear under a $200 million bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday. HB 7061 includes sales tax holidays on back-to-school and hurricane preparedness items that Floridians are used to, but it also has a sales tax holiday for outdoor recreation goods and tickets to sports and cultural events. More from the Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald.
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With no explanation, the Florida Department of Environmental has pulled Cayo Costa State Park’s management plan from a June meeting at which it was to have been voted upon. The plan has drawn heat from park supporters opposed to continued commercial use of a dock at the island’s southern end.
They say twice-daily dockings by large excursion boats damage sea grass, while the raked, root-pruned path used by their thousands of monthly passengers creates a channel through which water could rush in a storm, slicing the 9-mile-long barrier island in two.