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pollution

Pollution-spill notice bill races to approval by Senate Appropriations Committee

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The Senate Appropriations Committee wastes little time or comment approving a proposal to make sure the public is notified within 48 hours of a toxic spill. The panel took bare minutes to vote the bill out unanimously. It was the final committee stop on the way to the Senate floor. CS/SB 532, the Public Notice of Pollution Act, requires notice to the Department of Environmental Protection of any spill within 24 hours. The department then would have 24 hours to…

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GOP pushes 2 top Cabinet picks through to full Senate

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Republicans jammed two of President Donald Trump‘s top Cabinet picks through the Senate Finance Committee with no Democrats in the room Wednesday after suspending a rule that would have otherwise barred them from taking the vote. The tactic seemed a warning shot that they might deploy brute political muscle in the upcoming fight over the Supreme Court vacancy. With a near-toxic vapor of divisiveness between the two parties across Capitol Hill, nasty showdowns broke out elsewhere as well. One Senate…

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Hoping to curb pollution, Randy Fine bill would require inspection of septic tanks

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A new bill filed today by Rep. Randy Fine, who represents House District 53, would aim to solve the Indian River Lagoon’s septic tank crisis and help all of Florida’s water quality by requiring the inspection of septic tanks as part of home and other real estate sales. The Indian River Lagoon was revealed last year to have been polluted by human waste leaking from faulty septic tanks. The number of septic tanks in the area is unknown, but estimated to…

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Environmental groups sue Gulfport over sewage overflows

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Three environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit this week alleging the city of Gulfport is in violation of the Clean Water Act for discharging raw sewage and other pollutants into Clam Bayou and Tampa and Boca Ciega bays without a permit. They are asking, among other things, that the judge levy civil fines against Gulfport of up to $37,500 per day per violation for violations occurring from Jan. 12, 2009, to Nov. 2, 2015. They’re also asking for civil penalties…

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Joe Henderson: Polluted water in St. Pete leaves little room for mistake

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

We love the water around here. We boat on it, haul fish from it, swim in it, and build houses that provide spectacular views of it. Water is such a big deal around here that many people identify us not by the actual places where we live, but by the catchall name of Tampa Bay. So while having local waterways polluted with millions of gallons of untreated sewage would be a major story anywhere, it is a catastrophe here. And…

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The end for SaintPetersBlog

Ever since I acquired the rights to the perfect domain for my efforts — FloridaPolitics.com — I knew that one

Expert to Rio athletes: ‘Don’t put your head under water’

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press. Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions, but the AP’s tests indicate that tourists also face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. The AP’s survey of the…

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Diane Roberts: Bad science is not good for state’s waterways

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

You’d think that a state where they launch rockets into space, a state which houses the world’s most powerful superconducting magnets, a state with several perfectly good universities, would embrace science. Or at least not be so thoroughly hostile to it. But this is Rick Scott’s Florida, where there’s still legislative resistance to teaching evolution (“just a theory!”), the Agency for Healthcare Administration doesn’t understand how doctors determine pregnancy, and climate change is the impending disaster that Dares Not Speak…

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