Plans to widen the Tampa Bay shipping channel - including a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - have been fast-tracked to mid-2004 to reduce congestion and enhance navigational safety. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering a series of options, including a passing lane, anchorages, a loop channel and widening the channel to accommodate large ships with wide safety zones.

Design elements will be selected based upon their economic benefits to the region as well as their environmental impact. The Corps held a preliminary meeting with local stakeholders in September to identify environmental impacts that need to be considered, including living resources and water quality issues as well as dredge disposal options.

"We'll look at an array of alternatives and decide which is best," says Tim Murphy, the Corps' project manager for Tampa Bay. "We don't have numbers yet, but we'll definitely tweak the plan to avoid environmental or economic impacts."

The Corps expects to complete its recommendations and an EIS in June, followed by a final report in December 2004.

For more information on proposed options or to comment on alternatives, contact Paul Stevenson at 904-232-3747 or paul.c.stevenson@saj02.usace.army.mil.

The Pasco County Commission has accepted a final report of the Environmental Lands Acquisition Task Force and pledged 25% of their portion of a proposed sales tax toward environmental land purchase. The sales tax will need to be approved by voters in a referendum scheduled for March 2004.

If approved, the county could raise more than $4 million per year for environmental land acquisition.

The task force plan calls for building wildlife corridors that link larger preserves, and focusing on ways to buffer and add to existing lands. Partnerships with other government agencies, as well as private organizations, also are emphasized.

"What we're working on now is the language of the ballot," notes Jennifer Seney, founder of a political action committee pushing the county to buy lands for preservation. "As it stands now, 10% goes to municipalities, 45% goes to schools and the remaining 45% goes to the county. We need to word the ballot in such a way that the county is held to spending 25% of its 45% on preservation. There's no way Pasco residents are going to vote for a penny sales tax that doesn't break down expenditures."

For more information, visit Preserve Pasco!

Heavy summer rains prompted another emergency order for discharges of treated wastewater into Bishop Harbor from Piney Point, the defunct phosphate plant located near Port Manatee.

The emergency order, issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on September 8, allows discharges of double-limed and aerated wastewater that cannot be barged offshore or used by other public or commercial facilities.

As of September 24, the facility was discharging about one million gallons of treated wastewater per day, choosing first, and wherever possible, to barge the excess water into the Gulf of Mexico or truck it to local government and commercial users. Releases into Bishop Harbor are expected to increase to over three million gallons per day and continue for another three to five months, depending on rainfall. So far, despite intense monitoring efforts, no adverse impacts to the harbor have been recorded.

Meanwhile, the state continues barging a portion of the facility's treated wastewater 120 miles offshore for release into the Gulf of Mexico to ease pressure on the plant's berms and reduce the likelihood of future in-bay discharges. But barging is costly and complicated, and with only one barge presently available, only 16 runs have been conducted and 102 million gallons dispersed as of September 24.

DEP estimates that it will be able to disperse roughly 200 million gallons by November 30 when the EPA offshore discharge order expires, a small fraction of the estimated 1.2 billion gallons of highly acidic wastewater remaining at the site.

Still, with a bit of cooperation from Mother Nature, DEP is hopeful that enough water can be removed so they can begin the process of closing the plant, which will require emptying and then lining its reservoirs.

For more information on the Gulf discharges, visit the University of South Florida's Institute of Remote Sensing.

The Pinellas County Environmental Foundation brought home a Sustainable Award from the Council for Sustainable Florida and Governor Jeb Bush for its unique collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and business that resulted in 47 grants as part of a $7-million conservation effort.

Other Tampa Bay organizations that received awards include:

• Egmont Key Alliance, for beach protection and restoration, visitor education center and turtle nesting beach survey and protection
• Tampa Audubon Society for establishing an Audubon Resource Center in a county park and
• Progress Energy Florida, for collaborative development of manufactured housing using photovoltaic energy system.

PCEF also was named the 2003 "Conservation Organization of the Year" by the Florida Wildlife Foundation.

Additionally, Around the Bend Nature Tours in Bradenton has been recognized with a second place Gulf Guardian Award for 2003 in the Business Category from the Gulf of Mexico Program.

An interactive website designed to help residents and visitors understand invasive plants and their harmful affects on Florida's environment and economy has been created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The latest invader featured is hydrilla verticillata, a prolific nonnative aquatic plant that causes serious problems in Florida's rivers and lakes.

The new multimedia presentation uses flash technology and video clips to demonstrate the impact of hydrilla on Florida's natural resources and economy. Boats, motors and trailers transfer hydrilla stems and tubers to new waterways. Growing several inches a day, one strand can quickly infest an entire river or lake.

Invasive, non-native plants like hydrilla currently inhabit about 15% of Florida's public conservation lands, decreasing native biodiversity and affecting an eco-tourism economy valued at over $7.8 billion annually.

The site is located at www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/invaspec.

Tampa Bay is getting better. You can help. Buy a Tampa Bay Estuary tag and help keep Tampa Bay on the road to recovery. They're available year-round in your local tax collector's office or request a Tampa Bay Estuary tag with your annual renewal. The cost is $27 for the first year and $17 after that - with $15 going directly to projects that benefit the estuary, including the publication of Bay Soundings.