Water

The Tamiami Trail was finished in 1928, and environmentalists have been trying to undo the damage ever since. Trailblazers exhibit, courtesy of Jonathan Ullman. Florida Bay, the body of water between the Everglades and the Keys that was once teeming with wildlife, may be on the verge of collapse. Last week, scientists reported that miles of sea grass have died in the bay in recent months, leaving behind a stinky smell and a cloud of yellow sulfide. The die-off is likely to be the start of a larger “toxic algae bloom,” which could bring disastrous effects to one of South Florida’s greatest environmental treasures. ...

IMAGE SOURCE: tbo.com By Charlie Frago 8/10/15 ST. PETERSBURG— Faced with a wastewater system overwhelmed by weeks of torrential rainfall, the city dumped about 5.5 million gallons of treated sewage into Tampa Bay for eight hours beginning Sunday evening. The wastewater — everything from toilet sewage, sink drainage and rainwater — was treated at the Albert Whitted plant before being pumped about 1,000 feet into Tampa Bay, said Mayor Rick Kriseman’s spokesman Ben Kirby on Monday. ...

The new ‘Living Shoreline’ is shown in this July 9, 2015 aerial handout photo provided by Palm Beach County July 14, 2015 in Lake Worth, Florida. REUTERS/Palm Beach County/Handout via Reuters In a growing trend that seeks to blend art with environmental restoration, a water filtration project was unveiled on Tuesday along a 575-foot sea-walled stretch of the intracoastal waterway in South Florida. ...

Recently, you may have noticed a sticker on many of the water fountains around the University of Central Florida campus with the stark warning: “Contains Violation Levels of Radium, Cadmium & other Carcinogenic Toxins…Yours, Deep Green Resistance Orlando.” The object in reference is the water. According to the Environmental Working Group (a registered non-profit group famed for their rigorous investigations and research in the service of public health) and statistics gathered from The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the water at UCF is contaminated with “over the health guideline” levels of several toxic chemicals. You can read the full list here: http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater/FL/University-of-Central-Florida/3480409/. You will notice that the graph shows the presence of contaminants has been measured over a number of years and that while chemical levels have often been over the health guidelines, there have only been a handful of times these contaminant levels have surpassed legal guidelines. We ask, how can contaminant levels in our “drinking water” violate health limits while still being legal? ...