Environmental Issue in Tampa Bay

[Creedence]

A quick search of the site didn’t turn anything up on this which was a little surprising. If a thread exists on this somewhere, I’d appreciate someone pointing me to it. If one doesn’t already exist, are we all watching the environmental disaster unfolding in Tampa Bay right now??

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbs...ay-2021-04-05/

I keep the boat about 15 miles from the site, closer to the mouth of the bay. My diver has suspended service for the time being- reasonable enough. I have to wonder how long it will take for this to unfold. At the current rate, they could have the thing emptied in a “controlled” manner in a couple weeks I guess. Then we wait for the absolutely epic red tide as things heat up this year. OR, the catastrophic failure happens and heavy metal contaminants get out which could kill God knows what.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Creedence

My diver has suspended service for the time being- reasonable enough.

Who's you diver?

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Creedence

...are we all watching the environmental disaster unfolding in Tampa Bay right now??

A sobering reminder why some Americans still harbour doubts about the collective (government and/or industry) ability to manage toxic waste, let alone nuclear waste.

(See also Hurricane Katrina and unfinished levees.)

[HopCar]

Yup, I think you are going to be hit with a massive red tide. Not something to look forward to. I rode through red tide in Charlotte Harbor a couple of years ago. Lots of dead fish floating. What surprised me was it seemed to affect my breathing. I started coughing and had to breath through a rag to get through it.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Yup, I think you are going to be hit with a massive red tide. Not something to look forward to. I rode through red tide in Charlotte Harbor a couple of years ago. Lots of dead fish floating. What surprised me was it seemed to affect my breathing. I started coughing and had to breath through a rag to get through it.

I’ve had the same reaction to red tide. Especially when aerosolized in the surf

[S/V Illusion]

Looks like the government has things relatively under control for the first time here and will finally address the whole problem which past governments have largely ignored and kicked down the road. The fear of massive environmental impact and red tide are largely exaggerated but that wont stop the MSM from sensationalizing the problem
Storage lagoons such as these are ubiquitous throughout the country containing a myriad of contaminants and many have uncontrolled releases frequently. Fortunately, the effect is mostly short-term. Similarly, slag piles in mining areas throughout the country often collapse due to erosion releasing metals into water supplies and rivers.


While "dilution isn't the solution", that's what typically happens and we go on until the next one to make the news and people hyperventilate all over again.

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Yup, I think you are going to be hit with a massive red tide. Not something to look forward to. I rode through red tide in Charlotte Harbor a couple of years ago. Lots of dead fish floating. What surprised me was it seemed to affect my breathing. I started coughing and had to breath through a rag to get through it.

Yeah, it can cause respiratory issues- even several miles inland. We had a pretty massive/record-breaking bloom a couple years ago, but with 450 million gallons of water saturated with phosphorus and nitrogen going into the bay, I bet we’re in for a season that will put that one to shame. And I suspect that’s going to be the best case scenario, if there’s a catastrophic failure, the heavy metal contaminants and radioactive waste become an issue.

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Looks like the government has things relatively under control for the first time here and will finally address the whole problem which past governments have largely ignored and kicked down the road. The fear of massive environmental impact and red tide are largely exaggerated but that wont stop the MSM from sensationalizing the problem
Storage lagoons such as these are ubiquitous throughout the country containing a myriad of contaminants and many have uncontrolled releases frequently. Fortunately, the effect is mostly short-term. Similarly, slag piles in mining areas throughout the country often collapse due to erosion releasing metals into water supplies and rivers.


While "dilution isn't the solution", that's what typically happens and we go on until the next one to make the news and people hyperventilate all over again.

I generally agree that they are managing an issue created by decades of can kicking the best they can. You’re also from LWR, so you’ll know the area we’re discussing well. Apparently the bulk of the spillage is being routed to the Little Manatee River, but every tributary than can take it is getting it- even as far south as the wetlands that touch I-275 before the toll.

Why they wouldn’t cap these waste sites is beyond me (except if you consider costs I guess).

Something similar happened a couple years ago in the middle of the state, but the waste site collapsed into the aquifer. They are STILL pouring concrete into it to this day to try to mitigate the ongoing issues.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Storage lagoons such as these are ubiquitous throughout the country containing a myriad of contaminants and many have uncontrolled releases frequently. Fortunately, the effect is mostly short-term. Similarly, slag piles in mining areas throughout the country often collapse due to erosion releasing metals into water supplies and rivers.

So this is all ok, then.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

So this is all ok, then.

I didn’t say that. However, as long as there is a market for fertilizer, there will be phosphate mining which results in generation of waste. People like to eat.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I didn’t say that. However, as long as there is a market for fertilizer, there will be phosphate mining which results in generation of waste. People like to eat.

Understood. Yes we still need fertilizer.

My broader point is: isn't this worth 'hyperventilating' about, even just a little? We are faced with mounting environmental problems, and of course the frequent claim that all the noise about CC means that there's too little attention paid to other pollution issues... so here today is an "other pollution issue" making the front page for a change, and... meh?

I also think that occurrences like this continue to bolster the anti-nuclear-power arguments. What's to say that authorities won't be equally negligent with nuclear waste or similar contaminants?

[Creedence]

There’s the ever-present, decisive, political angle to this (perhaps Greta can do a single-handed voyage through the contaminated water being dumped into the bay???)

But more practically, there’s also the fact that this is pretty gnarly crap being offloaded into a large body of water that will likely have some impact to marine life as well as the land-based environment. My buddy is a part of the emergency response task force, and he says they are putting this stuff absolutely anywhere they can- including on dry land.

I’m not a scientist, and I’ve never played one on tv, but I did once use Florida tap water (very hard water) to fill a fish tank and none of them survived their first day in the tank. We have a lot of minerals in our water to begin with, and I can only imagine what phosphate, nitrogen, and a crapload of ammonia would do for marine life

[Gadagirl]

In the US and world wide drinking water supplies are screwed. By the military installations and corporate enterprise.

https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/

https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/pfas_contamination/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/03/pfas-forever-chemicals-what-are-they

OMG too any links to post. That's the tip of the iceberg. Slag ponds from coal mines also can be added. Along with the plastic.

The amount that the water and air that has been polluted is phenomenal. As tremendous as the situation in Tampa may seem, is but a drop in the bucket as to what we've allowed to happen in our world.

It's really a sad.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Creedence

There’s the ever-present, decisive, political angle to this (perhaps Greta can do a single-handed voyage through the contaminated water being dumped into the bay???)

But more practically, there’s also the fact that this is pretty gnarly crap being offloaded into a large body of water that will likely have some impact to marine life as well as the land-based environment. My buddy is a part of the emergency response task force, and he says they are putting this stuff absolutely anywhere they can- including on dry land.

I’m not a scientist, and I’ve never played one on tv, but I did once use Florida tap water (very hard water) to fill a fish tank and none of them survived their first day in the tank. We have a lot of minerals in our water to begin with, and I can only imagine what phosphate, nitrogen, and a crapload of ammonia would do for marine life

Your fish likely died because of the chloramines <sp?> in the water which is very toxic to fish. Always use bottled water for fresh water fish tanks.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by Creedence

. . . and I can only imagine what phosphate, nitrogen, and a crapload of ammonia would do for marine life

Technically the ammonia will be part of the total nitrogen in the waste water.

That minor point aside my understanding is Tampa Bay is already heavily loaded with nutrients and this ain't gonna help.