DeSantis Accused Of Red Tide Negligence, Economy Affected

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Businesses from St. Petersburg to Sarasota asked Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday to declare a state of emergency due to the ongoing red tide and fish kills in and around Tampa Bay.

In recents weeks, hundreds of people such as city workers in St. Pete have labored to clean up red tide fish kills that keep washing ashore. The marine life removed from the region's shorelines includes goliath groupers that can weigh hundreds of pounds, and horseshoe crabs, manatee, snooks, seatrout, puffer fish, eel, sharks and other species of fish.

Backhoes, grappling trucks and bulldozers have been seen at the shorelines of St. Pete removing large fish that have floated in from the Gulf of Mexico.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman has asked DeSantis to send shrimp boats for cleanup help, but his request has gone ignored, Kriseman said.

Protesters gathered at downtown waterfront parks with protest signs over the weekend. One sign said, "Get the Muck Outta Here," and another said, "Expose Piney Point!"

Tourists and residents haven't enjoyed the waterways of Tampa Bay this summer because of the unpleasant odors and health dangers of red tide. Businesses aren't seeing the cash flow they usually experience from visitors and regulars in July. Charter boats in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties are also suffering from fewer bookings.

“Florida’s waters are necessary for a healthy environment and tourism, so failing to address red tide as an emergency is nothing short of negligent,” Shawn Martin, chairman of Surfrider Florida Foundation Florida Keys chapter, said. “If the continued insults from water pollution are not addressed, our marine ecosystems and the economy built around them will fail.”

Red tide appeared in Tampa Bay after up to 480 million gallons of wastewater from the Piney Point phosphogypsum stack in Manatee County was released into Tampa Bay with permission from federal authorities. This followed a leak that was found in the 77-acre process water pond March 25.

“Red tide’s carnage is horrific and infuriating,” Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said. “Tampa Bay desperately needs help cleaning up this mess, and Florida needs to get its act together and start holding polluters accountable or this will continue to be a significant threat to our way of life.”

While city councils, residents and businesses of Tampa Bay are asking the governor to declare a state of emergency, DeSantis signed The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act Monday in Poinciana.

He made no mention of helping Tampa Bay save its marine life from red tide during Monday's press conference as he signed the Senate Bill 976 that dedicates $300 million to protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

"Failure to act on red tide should end in a failed second-term election for Gov. DeSantis,” Clayton Louis Ferrara, executive director of IDEAS For Us, Inc., said.

In March, Lost Coast Oyster Company co-owner Brian Rosegger of Manatee County told WFLA the releases of water from Piney Point have the potential to create a harmful algae bloom that could shut them down.

The 215 million gallons of wastewater that was estimated to have been dumped into Tampa Bay from Piney Point continue to spread throughout the estuary and into Sarasota Bay, transporting tons of nitrogen and other pollutants into waterways and communities, according to Center for Biological Diversity.

The fertilizer industry creates more than 30 million tons of phosphogypsum in Florida each year. This waste is stored in mountainous piles called gypstacks that are hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall. Florida has 1 billion tons of radioactive phosphogypsum in 25 stacks, including the Piney Point gypstack and the New Wales gypstack.

Following a meeting Kriseman had with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Pinellas County Friday, a bit of relief with cleanup efforts is expected to be delivered to the city of St. Petersburg in the amount of $900,000 FEDP pledged to the county, and will be shared proportionately with the city in accordance with their expenses to-date. The three parties also agreed to hold weekly joint meetings at the senior administrative level.

Learn more about phosphogypsum and efforts to protect public health and the environment from its harms.

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