Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

 
Florida's Phosphate Risk

 

Green Living Toolkit

Essential Guide to Florida Suncoast Living

Apr. 15, 2022,-They break it down to show you the most effective solutions, curated especially for Sarasota and Manatee County residents.

We connect you with local events and experts on energy, food, waste, water, and nature. The Toolkit is designed with options to meet you where you’re at, then help you level up to live smart and future-focused. Every step you take accrues personal and community benefits, now and for future generations.

The Right to Clean and Healthy Waters

This is a #WatershedMoment

FloridaCleanWater.org-It has become clear that the current system of water protection has failed; the state executive branch is not enforcing clean water legislation according to environmental laws, legislative intent and constitutional policy. Although a right to clean water already exists by statute, it defers too much to state executive agencies to guard against harm.

Click now to learn what you can do.

ECO SUMMIT +EXPO

Get Free Tickets

Science & Environment Council-December 2 and 3, 10am-5pm. One ticket includes General Admission for up to 5 people. City of Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, 801 North Tamiami Trail.

Click now to learn more.

Florida
Environmental Action

Eco Summit+Expo

Page Updated:
June 9, 2025

 

The Sink or
Swim Newsletter

Ecology Florida

• • ‘Flying Blind’: Florida Weatherman Tells
  Viewers Trump Cuts Will Harm Forecasts

  John Morales Told Viewers He May Be Unable to Warn Viewers of Hurricane Dangers Due to Weather Agency Cuts
  
  

  June 5, 2025 -A leading TV weatherman in Florida has warned viewers on air that he may not be able to properly inform them of incoming hurricanes because of cuts by the Trump administration to federal weather forecasting.

  John Morales, a veteran meteorologist at NBC 6 South Florida, told viewers on Monday night that Donald Trump’s cuts to climate and weather agencies mean that forecasters will be “flying blind” into what is expected to be an active hurricane season.

• • New Eco-Hotel at Everglades National
  Park Built For Age of Super Hurricanes

  Flamingo Lodge – Constructed From Repurposed Shipping Containers On Stilts – Replaces Florida Facility Battered By Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma
  
  

  May 28, 2025 -A collection of repurposed shipping containers, welded together and fitted out to create an innovative new eco-hotel inside one of the country’s most popular national parks, offers a vision of revival and resilience at the beginning of another potentially active Atlantic hurricane season.

  The containers exist as the elevated 24-room Flamingo Lodge at the exposed southern tip of Florida’s Everglades national park. It was built to replace the 1960s-era cinderblock construction that was finally demolished in 2009, four years after back-to-back hurricanes, Katrina and Wilma, tore it apart.

• • Tree Deaths Linked to River Road Expansion

  Draining of Groundwater At Fault
  
  

  Mar. 6, 2025 -Little black beetles have dug deep into pine trees on Ray and Mary Westbrook’s East Venice Avenue property.

  They’ve killed about 70 South Florida slash pines on a five-acre lot near a former borrow pit used for dirt for the expansion of River Road in south Sarasota County close to the Myakka River and Snook Haven Restaurant.

• • Alligators and Other Animals Are Living in (Some) Sewers

  From Raccoons Climbing Manholes to Alligators Lurking in Underground Waterways, Florida’s Stormwater Sewers are More than Just Drainage Systems
  
  

  Feb. 18, 2025 -The idea of alligators lurking in city sewers has been a long-standing urban legend. From New York’s subway myths to Florida’s swampy cities, stories of sewer-dwelling reptiles have fascinated and terrified people for decades. But a recent study conducted in Florida proves that at least sometimes, legends aren’t entirely fiction.

  Researchers set up camera traps in stormwater sewer systems and discovered an astonishing variety of wildlife living below the streets. From raccoons to river otters — and yes, even alligators — these underground tunnels are a hidden ecosystem few people ever see.

• • Lingering Red Tide Mucks Up Sarasota
  and Manatee Beaches Through Presidents Day

  Dead Fish Covered Many Beaches in Sarasota and Manatee County Beaches Over the Long Valentine's Day weekend,...
  
  

  Feb. 17, 2025 -Morning visitors walking along Lido Beach stepped over dead fish and avoided closed encounters to Gulf waters that reeked of red tide in Sarasota on Monday. Conditions that could cause respiratory irritation could be present at local beaches affected by red tide, but winds blowing away from shore at around 9 a.m. made for mild conditions at Lido Beach.

  Red tide has lingered in Gulf Coast waters since Hurricane Helene last fall. A composite of satellite images and water sample results by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science shows that red tide has drifted toward Sarasota and Manatee County waters over the past eight days.

• • Miami’s Trash Nightmare

  What America Can Learn From It
  
  

  Jan. 28, 2025 -Two years ago, Miami-Dade County awoke to a garbage nightmare. Both of the county landfills were nearly full, and the aging incinerator that once burned the lion’s share of the county’s waste had itself been consumed in a runaway trash fire.

  After the fire, County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava proposed what she said would be the best solution to a bad problem: replacing the wrecked incinerator with a new $1.5 billion waste-to-energy facility that would generate enough electricity for 70,000 homes, pollute less than the old plant and — the mayor said — wouldn’t stink.

• • Florida Manatees Retain Threatened Status Under New Federal Proposal

  Despite Outcry for Greater Protection
  
  

  Jan. 16, 2025 - Protections for Florida’s ailing manatees would remain unchanged under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal announced this week.

  The manatees would retain their listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, despite ample criticism that has ensued since 2017, when the federal agency downlisted the beloved sea cows from endangered.

• • Duke Energy Seeks $1.1 Billion to Cover Hurricane Costs in Florida

  The Request Comes After Duke Energy Florida Mobilized More Than 27,000 Workers in Response to Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton
  
  

  Dec. 30, 2024 - Duke Energy is asking utility regulators in Florida to approve the recovery of around $1.1 billion in “direct costs” from the utility’s massive response to major hurricanes in 2024.

  More than 27,000 Duke Energy Florida workers and additional resources helped restore power to around 2 million customers impacted by hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton, Duke Energy said in its filing with the Florida Public Service Commission. Costs included the acquisition of “significant mutual assistance,” as well as standing up staging sites and rebuilding parts of the power grid.

• • Making a Road Out of Radioactive Material in Florida

  EPA Approves Pilot Project
  {THE HILL}
  
  

  Dec. 23, 2024 -The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a pilot project that would allow a company to build a small road made out of a radioactive fertilizer byproduct — drawing environmentalist ire.

  The Biden administration’s approval allows Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to construct a road made of phosphogypsum on its property in New Wales, Fla.

• • Indigenous Tribes Should Be More
  Involved in Everglades Restoration

  For Florida’s Native American tribes, the Watershed is Sacred
  
  

  Nov. 20, 2024 -When the federal and state governments sought during the First and Second Seminole wars to forcibly remove Native Americans from Florida, the Indigenous peoples found sanctuary among the tree islands scattered within the watery wilderness of the Everglades.

  Now a new report on the progress of the $21 billion effort to restore the vast watershed acknowledges a lack of meaningful engagement with the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, who consider the soaring cypress swamps and sweeping sawgrass prairies of the river of grass that saved them from annihilation more than 100 years ago to be sacred.

• • Florida's Rising Seas

  Mapping Our Future
  
  

  July 22, 2024 - Florida’s Rising Seas: Mapping Our Future is a GIS-based analysis of the intersection between population growth, development patterns and sea level rise in Florida. A joint project of the University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning and 1000 Friends of Florida, it builds on the Florida 2070/Water 2070 reports released in 2016 but incorporates the impacts of sea level rise on lands available for development, conservation, agriculture and other purposes, and the associated need for population relocation.

  Click to learn much more.

• • Saharan Dust Storms Affect Air
  Quality and Hurricanes in Sarasota-Manatee

  How Is This Possible?
  
  

  July 12, 2024 -On Thursday, Sarasota County officials issued an air quality advisory warning due to an elevated amount of particulate matter in the air.

  That particulate matter wasn't pollen or pollution, it was dust. From Africa.

  The huge plume of Saharan dust, also called the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has arrived and has the potential to influence our air quality and weather conditions. Here's what to know.

• • Training Workers for Green Jobs

  New NOAA Initiative Will
  Provide $60 Million in Funding
  
  

  July 10, 2024 -The city of Sarasota’s zoning code and comprehensive plan are embracing solar energy with updates aimed at regulating the construction of solar facilities.

  The Sarasota City Commission unanimously approved changes in the zoning code and the comprehensive plan that add solar utilities as future land use classification in certain zoning districts on first reading at its meeting Monday.

• • Florida Tree Cactus is Paying the Price for Rising Seas

  The Plant Succumbs
  to Climate Change...
  
  

  July 5, 2024 -The U.S. population of the Key Largo tree cactus, scientifically known as Pilosocereus millspaughii, was found only in the Florida Keys. It was first discovered in the area in 1992 and was monitored sporadically for decades.

  However, rising seas brought saltwater intrusion and soil erosion from storms and high tides, putting immense pressure on the small population. Additionally, wild mammals would often eat the cactus, adding to the strain.

• • The Funky Taste in Manatee County Drinking Water
  

  Blame the Algal Bloom
  
  

  June 21, 2024 -Manatee County residents may have noticed a funky taste in local drinking water, and authorities say it has been caused by an algal bloom in Lake Manatee.

  Manatee County residents may have noticed a funky taste in local drinking water, and authorities say it has been caused by an algal bloom in Lake Manatee.

• • The Great Sarasota Sewage Spill
  

  Thousands of Gallons of Sewage Spill During Recent Flooding
  
  

  June 19, 2024 -Sarasota County had a wet and wild day courtesy of tropical system Invest90L last week. Amid the downpours and subsequent flooding, county staff discovered an overflowing manhole at 7208 Pine Needle Road, where about 73,200 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled. Between the Riverview, Linwood, and Sam's Seltzers Lift Stations, about 41,000 gallons of untreated wastewater were spilled.

  The Wastewater Reclamation Facilities saw three times their usual flow during the storms as runoff flooded the system. The county's largest wastewater treatment facility on Bee Ridge Road produces an average of 7 million gallons a day. Within the the past week, the flow hit a peak of 20 million gallons a day.

• • Another Raw Sewage Spill Gurgles Up Manholes in Bradenton
  

  Bradenton Again Experienced a Lift Station Malfunction That Resulte in a Sewage Water Spill Onto Local Streets
  
  

  June 17, 2024 -The city reported a spill of untreated sewage occurred on Thursday after a lift station obstruction at 1200 15th Street East resulted in a 4,000-gallon wastewater spill. The sewage flowed out of manholes onto streets and gutters along 23rd Street and 24th Street, with some flowing into the storm drain on the south side of 13th Avenue.

  Click now for more.

• • Heavy Rains Cause Flooding, Closures,
  Stuck Cars in Sarasota and Surrounding Areas
  

  Tuesday’s Downpour, Saw 5-10 Inches of Rain Flood the Streets
  
  

  June 12, 2024 -Restaurants on St. Armands Circle and Siesta Key sustained some of the worst flooding. Siesta Key restaurants The Cottage and The Hub Baja Grill have announced they were closed on Wednesday.

  The inclement weather left restaurants like Mattison’s City Grill at 1 Lemon Ave. deserted. Darryl Dillon, the restaurant’s general manager, said water crept into the outdoor patio for the first time in a storm that wasn’t a hurricane.

• • Radiation and Your Environment

  A Guide to Low-Level Radiation for Citizens of Florida
  
  {FIPR Institute}
  
  

  Apr. 10, 2025 -The Florida Institute of Phosphate Research (FIPR) was created in 1978 by the Florida Legislature (Chapter 378.101, Florida Statutes) and empowered to conduct research supportive to the responsible development of the state’s phosphate resources. The Institute has targeted areas of research responsibility. These are: reclamation alternatives in mining and processing including wetlands reclamation, phosphogypsum storage areas and phosphatic clay contaminant areas; methods for more efficient, economical and environmentally balanced phosphate recovery and processing; disposal and utilization of phosphatic clay; and environmental effects involving the health and welfare of the people, including those effects related to radiation and water consumption.

• •  The Florida Solar Bill of Rights

  It’s Time to Put the “Sun” Back in the Sunshine State!

  SOLAR UNITED NEIGHBORS, Dec. 16, 2021 -As residents of the Sunshine State, we call on our local and state officials to protect and encourage access to solar power for all Floridians, as well as to reform laws and policies that restrict our freedom to produce solar energy.

  Click now to read the list of those rights.

• • Engarde, Swordfish!

  Swordfish Reduction Sends Rippling Fears
  
  

  Aug. 27, 2022 -Swordfish and other sea creatures have used the Florida Straits and Gulf Stream for thousands of years, migrating with the warm current as it gathers in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea and then blasts up the East Coast and into the northern Atlantic Ocean.

  But things have changed in the Gulf Stream system. Waters have warmed, and the regional Gulf of Mexico-to-North Atlantic current has slowed, according to some scientific evidence. The data is not complete.

• • Algae Blooms Are Killing Our Manatees

  Hundreds of Them Have Starved to Death

  Mar. 25, 2022, (ZME Science)-Nearly 1 in 10 died last year.

  A wildlife official in Florida said hundreds of manatees have starved to death along the state's east coast due to the algae blooms and contaminants that are killing seagrass resources they eat, The Associated Press reported.

• • Coral Reef Monitoring & Assessment

  Coral Reefs Must Be
  Protected Against Bleaching

  October, 2021, (Mote Marine)-Coral bleaching is the corals’ loss of their symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae), which give them their color. Bleaching is a natural event that occurs to some extent annually in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS).

  Records show that coral bleaching has been occurring for many years in the Florida Keys and also indicate that the frequency and severity of these events has steadily increased since the 1980s. Large-scale mass coral bleaching events are driven by unusually warm sea temperatures and calm seas. The effects of these mass events are potentially devastating to ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

• • History Of Phosphate Mining
  In Florida Fraught With Peril

  Accidents Like the Spill at the Piney
  Point Plant Fill the History Books

  Jun. 16, 2021, (WUSFPublic Media)-At the construction entrance to the Piney Point phosphate plant - off Buckeye Road in northern Manatee County, just south of the Hillsborough County line - the smell of phosphate and gypsum hangs heavy in the air.

  A bulldozer is busy pushing sand into a hole from which more than 200 million gallons of tainted water flowed into Tampa Bay. This isn't the first time this has happened. Accidents like this fill the history books in Florida, including two here at this very site.

• • Hazardous Waste Mixed Into Roads

  Are Our Roads Not Getting
  Enough Radio-Activity?

  June 17, 2021 (Bradenton Times) -If you live next to a road, will you be living next to a hazardous waste site? Unfortunately, this may be a reality for many, especially here in Florida.

  The Environmental Protection AgencyThis is the radioactive waste product left over from the production of fertilizer, and Florida has a lot of it.

• • Red Tide’s Impact on Humans

  Roskamp Institute Awarded
  Federal Grant to Study Red
  Tide’s Impact on Humans

  May 8, 2020 (floridadaily.com) - This week, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., praised the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota for winning a federal grant to study the possible connection between exposure to red tide and neurological disorders in humans.

  “Roskamp is one of the leading scientific research institutes in the nation and I’m thrilled they were able to secure funding to conduct this important review,” said Buchanan on Wednesday. “People need to know if exposure causes long-term damage. This grant of more than $400,000 will allow Roskamp to determine if human exposure to the red tide neurotoxin called brevetoxin causes brain impairment or other problems.”

  In particular, the institute will study why some people have mild reactions to red tide while others react more severely.

• • Would You Like a Little Radon With That Home?

  Radon Gas and Florida's Development

  Aug. 11, 2019 (The Bradenton Times) -Radon is found in one out of every four Florida homes. Every citizen, whether they are aware of the problem or not, is affected. All exposure to radon is potentially harmful. Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive, gaseous element that results from the breaking down of radium.

  Numerous studies support the clear and simple fact that radon exposure is a serious public health hazard. Indeed, more is known about the adverse health effects of radon exposure than any other environmental pollutant. Indoor radon air pollution is the number one environmental pollutant in Florida.

• • What To Do About Plastic's Affect on Martine Life?

  How Plastic is Harming
  Florida’s Marine Life, and
  What We Can Do About It

  By Joe Land (Greenpeace)- My passion for environmental conservation began when I was inspired by my 3rd-grade teacher to focus on my own interactions with the world around me, and to learn about the impact humans have on the Earth. I started the first Kids for Saving the Earth club in my hometown of New Albany, Indiana, where I became involved in sharing my enthusiasm for the natural beauty of the planet and in talking to people about the importance of protecting our only home. We worked on a recycling program and on stopping the use of Styrofoam in the school cafeteria.

  When I was 12, I took my first trip to Florida where I fell in love with the ocean and knew that’s where I belonged. When I first moved to Florida in the summer of 2007, I watched the release of sea turtle hatchlings, and I decided that I wanted to focus on their protection and coastal ecology. I became certified as an Advanced Florida Master Naturalist and Land Steward through the University of Florida; that program gave me the tools to understand and share the impact we have on Florida’s diverse marine and natural resources. Today I’m pursuing a degree in Marine and Environmental Science.

  Click for the story and a slideshow.

• • Legislative Environmental Considerations

  Florida Conservation Coalition Legislative Priority:
  Funding for Conservation Land Acquisition:

  Mar. 4, 2019  Florida Conservation Coalition

  
  • SB 944 Land Acquisition Trust Fund
  
  • SB 1256 Apalachicola Bay Area of Critical State Concern
  
  
  • SB 92 C-51 Reservoir Project
  
  To read all of the bills on this list, click now.
• • The Legislature: Onsite Sewage Treatment

  Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems

  Florida House of Representatives,-Directs DOH to identify certain information for onsite sewage treatment & disposal systems, update database of such systems, & submit report to Governor & Legislature

  Requires periodic inspection of such systems

  Directs DOH to administer onsite sewage treatment & disposal system inspection program & adopt rules; provides inspection requirements

  Provides exceptions; requires owners to pay costs of inspections & pump-outs; requires that inspections & pump-outs be performed by certain registered contractors

  Provides notice requirements; requires system disclosure summary for certain properties & acknowledgement of such disclosures by purchaser before or at execution of contract for sale.

• • Public Notice: Florida Has Got Its Pollution

  Public Notice of Pollution

  -Protecting Florida's pristine environment is the Department of Environmental Protection's top priority. Pursuant to Section 403.077, F.S., the Department is establishing a method for regulated entities to submit Public Notices of Pollution for reportable releases. Additionally, the Department is making available to the public all Notices received to date as well as offering an e-mail subscription service for interested parties to be informed of Notices submitted for their area of interest.

  Reporting entities should be aware that, while submission of a Notice through this website complies with the requirements of Section 403.077, F.S., it does not relieve them of any obligation to report to the State Watch Office.

  Click for more from The Florida
  Dept of Environmental Protection.

• • 6 Key Issues Facing Florida Environment

  Florida’s Environmental Challenges

  With leadership from the late Nathaniel Pryor Reed, Trouble in Paradise is the work product of deeply concerned members of the Florida environmental community who wish to help elected officials and candidates for office better understand six major statewide environmental issues impacting Florida’s natural resources and our residents’ quality of life. Reflecting that ‘one size does not fit all’ this report also identifies four of Florida’s many resource areas meriting specialized treatment.

• • Sarasota To Go 100% Renewable

  Sarasota, Florida Commits
  to Transition to
  100% Renewable Energy

  June 19, 2017 - The Sarasota City Commission today adopted a goal of powering all of Sarasota with 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2045. Sarasota joins St. Petersburg as the only two cities in the state of Florida to commit to transition to 100 percent clean and renewable energy.

• • FPL: Solar Use Illegal During Outages

  Florida Power & Light
  Lobbyists Made It Illegal to
  Use Solar During Outages

  Sept. 18, 2017 - One thing has changed since 2005: solar. Many of the FPL customers who are living through dangerous heat without power now have solar panels on their roofs that could keep them going while FPL repairs its infrastructure. Except doing so is illegal, thanks to FPL's lobbyists, who literally ghost-wrote much of Florida's dreadful solar rules.

  
  Click now to shed some sunlight.
• • Miami Rejects the 20-Foot Flood Wall

  But Still Must
  Combat Climate Change

  Miami Herald, Sep. 8, 2022 -Miami-Dade County’s hard “No” on the federal government’s proposal to build a 20-foot-tall coastal wall to combat flooding has paid off. The feds have agreed to re-examine that part of the Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Study, and without any cost to the county.

  It was difficult to take the idea seriously from the start. Installing hulking, flood-protection walls up to 20 feet tall along the coast of Biscayne Bay would mean, in essence, exchanging the scenic water views that draw people to this area for the unappealing sight of concrete barriers.

• • Avoid Hurricane Surge Flooding:
  KNOW YOUR ZONE!

  Know Your Flood Zone

  FloridaDisaster.org, - The greatest killer of people during hurricanes is storm surge – the dome of water pushed ashore by powerful hurricane winds. Entire buildings can be moved, and can cause more damage than the winds of a hurricane itself. Florida is extremely vulnerable to surge flooding because of its coastal and low-lying geography.

  To stay safe from surge flooding, if you live in a zone that has been ordered to evacuate, get out. The best way to be prepared for a hurricane storm surge is to know your evacuation zone and plan your destination and travel routes ahead of time.

  Flood Zone maps are available if you click now.

• • How Florida’s Springs are Threatened

  The Amount of Water they
  Discharge are Threatened by Both
  Human Activities and Natural Factors.

  (Southwest Florida Water Management) -Increases in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus due to development in springsheds, excessive fertilizer use, wastewater treatment plant discharges and failing septic tanks.

  Excess nitrate levels in water can be harmful to aquatic insects, amphibians and fish. If algae have an unlimited source of nitrates, excess growth may occur. Large amounts of algae growth can cause reduced water clarity and extreme fluctuations in dissolved oxygen, which is stressful to aquatic life.

• • Good Air in Florida? - Don't Count on It.

  Florida's Air Quality
  Shows Mixed Rankings for
  Ozone, Particle Pollution

  April 21, 2020 (FloridaTrend.com)-The American Lung Association’s 2020 “State of the Air” report found several cities earned mixed rankings for the nation’s most widespread air pollutants—ozone and particle pollution—both of which can be deadly. Gainesville, Lake City, Palm Bay, Melbourne, and Titusville were named on the cleanest cities list for short-term and year-round particle pollution after experiencing zero unhealthy air days.

  The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville metro tied 14th in the nation for the cleanest city in the nation in year-round particle pollution ahead of the Gainesville-Lake City metro area which tied 23rd.

  However, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, St. Lucie, Orlando, Lakeland, Deltona, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater all experienced more unhealthy air days of ozone in this year’s report.

• • Sarasota County Sustainability

  Defining Sustainability as Satisfying Our
  Present Needs Without Compromising
  the Ability of Future Generations

  Dec. 16, 2020(Sarasota County)-Committed to environmental, social and economic sustainability. To achieve the balance necessary for a sustainable community, this means:
  
  • Replenish the resources we use or consume;
  • Ensure our values guide us into the future; and
  • Invest in our community to ensure future prosperity.

  This is a constantly evolving journey, with countless directions and possibilities. We invite you to join us on this journey, through your choices and actions and by encouraging others in the community. Together we can make a difference – today, and for future generations.

  
  Click now for their Sustainability page.
• • Hey Florida Schools: Get the Lead Out

  Is There Any Excuse
  For Failing to Test
  For Lead in Our Schools?

  July 25, 2019 (mwfDailynews.com)-According to a statewide investigation conducted by WFTS-Tampa Bay late last year, 68% of Florida’s school districts do not test for lead in drinking water, or only partially test. Further, according to this same investigation, Gulf County’s public schools do not test for lead in the water, but, rather, rely on public utilities to perform such testing. However, as the recent public water debacle in Flint, Michigan has shown, and as reputable and independent experts have been warning for more than a decade, public utility testing for lead cannot be relied upon to protect our children’s health.

  Earlier this year, Florida Senator Janet Cruz sponsored a bill, SB 66, that would’ve added water filters in all of Florida’s older schools (including ours in Gulf County) to filter out lead particles from corroded pipes. As Ms. De La Vega’s recent Letter to the Editor pointed out, however, SB 66 failed in Florida’s 2019 legislative session. Admirably, in response to this temporary legislative setback, Senator Cruz has started a $250,000 fundraising effort to add water filters to Hillsborough County’s 136 schools.

• • NEST - Neighborhood Env. Stewardship Team

  The Benefits of NEST

  (Sarasota County wateratlas) —The Sarasota County Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team, or NEST, promotes neighborhood involvement in environmentally-friendly projects to protect and restore our shared water resources. The NEST program operates at the neighborhood level to improve the community and our watershed resources.

  NEST projects focus on both education and hands-on activities like, watershed-friendly landscaping, pond, lake, and bay shoreline restoration, bioswales, rain gardens, pervious pavement and invasive plant removal.

• • Phosphate Mining in Florida
  Threatens Water & Wildlife

  Significant Threats to
  Water and Wildlife

  Center for Biodiversity -Processed phosphates — little-discussed but widely spread throughout the food chain — pose a serious threat to our environment. Phosphate rock mining, along with the inorganic fertilizers and animal feed supplements for which phosphate is mined, pollute our air, contaminate our water and destroy invaluable wildlife habitat. -Especially in Florida.

  Because in fact, the state of Florida is home to the majority of phosphate-mining operations in the United States — and the United States is the world's third-leading producer of phosphate rock. Thus it's not all that surprising that Florida hosts the world's largest phosphate strip mine —100,000 acres wide.

• • Florida Environmental Issues

  Florida Environmental Issues

  Click now for a free PDF download addressing three of the key environmental issues that South Florida is challenged with today.

• • Florida Offshore Drilling is a No-No

  10 Reasons Not to Drill for Oil Offshore of Florida

  -This reminder from Manasota-88 warns of the ten reasons not to drill for off-shore oil.

• About Manatee County Flood Zones

  Manatee County Flood
  Zone Information Tool

  My Manatee County - Based on recent studies of the area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has proposed updates to the County's flood zones. Depending on whether your flood zone has changed, your flood insurance may be affected. Search your address to find information regarding potential changes in flood zone for a property. Some information may take a moment to load.

  FEMA also has a viewer for map changes, you can find the tool and instructions for its use on FEMA's Community Flood Hazard page.

• • Florida Slime Tracker

  Track That Slime Crime

  Florida's waterways are plagued by slime caused by fertilizer, sewage and animal manure. Click now for an interactive map allowing you to view photographs of the muck, in the areas shown on the map.

• • Watershed Excursion

  Take the Excursion

  View a slideshow of the Springs Coast waterways, brought to you by Southwest Florida Water Management District

Asbestos is a proven human
carcinogen, and all forms of
asbestos can cause cancer.

• Read All About It

• Florida is not Alone

• Why is Asbestos Used
in Power Plants?

Asbestos Exposure Treatment

Name

Power Source

Location

(County)

Owner

Output (Mw)

Homes
Powered

When
Built