Corporate Polluters and DeSantis Face Ire as Hundreds of Tons of Sea Life Dead in Florida [View all]

[douglas9]

The governor could declare this red tide an environmental emergency and free up funds for people hurt by the event."

Experts are linking Florida officials' decision to pump wastewater from the Piney Point fertilizer plant into the Tampa Bay earlier this year to the deaths of hundreds of tons of marine life which have piled up along Florida's coastline—threatening the region's biodiversity as well as its crucial fishing and tourism industries.

The wildlife has washed up along the Tampa Bay area's popular beaches in recent weeks, where local officials and scientists are linking the mass deaths to a red tide bloom that's been spotted near the shore in several areas.

"What we're mostly frustrated at is the prevention aspect and we’re hoping for someone on the state level to step it up, and hold these corporate polluters responsible."
—Thomas Patarek, Suncoast Surfrider

The red tide has killed more than 1,700 tons of marine animals in Pinellas County so far, according to Vox. The algae bloom was also linked to the deaths of 17 manatees between May and July.

Red tides can occur naturally in the Gulf of Mexico, but this year's toxic algae bloom, caused by an organism called Karenia brevis, has come weeks earlier than usual and is now being linked to a disaster at the decommissioned Piney Point plant in May, after state officials initially denied the connection.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/09/corporate-polluters-and-desantis-face-ire-hundreds-tons-sea-life-dead-florida