COASTAL TASK FORCEHelp tackle the assault of oil drilling, pollution and Red Tide on our communities. Meetings: Last Wed. of the month 7p.m. @111 2nd Ave NE Ste 1001 (10th Floor) St. Pete. For more information please contact Cathy Harrelson @ 727-415-8805 or cathy_bam@earthlink.net |
 |
The Fight Against Red Tide is About to Get Serious
We Need YOU to join the fight NOW!
Suncoast Coastal Task Force Meets last Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm
Sierra Club Office, 111 2nd Ave. NE, Ste 1001 (10th Floor)
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Office is located across the street from BayWalk. Limited free street parking, paid garage parking or metered street parking on Beach Dr.
BACKGROUND: Guidelines developed in recent workshops held by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program will go to all local governments in Pinellas, Manatee & Hillsborough in a few weeks. These guidelines give elected officials the basis for enacting a common set of local code ordinances to control nitrogen & phosphorus pollution of our lakes, bays and the Gulf. This pollution is now known to contribute to harmful algae blooms such as Red Tide – not only a hazard to health, environment and economy, but a hugely expensive cleanup for cities & counties.
It’s time for a broad-based community coalition to advocate passage of strong ordinances throughout the Tampa Bay area this fall. Codes are now in effect in Sarasota, Sanibel, Naples, Lee County, etc. that are reducing pollution at its source by asking residents not to apply fertilizer in the summer when rains wash it into waters, to use slow-release fertilizers in the spring & fall, to establish shoreline buffer zones that will absorb nutrients before they can reach the water, and other best practices for maintaining our vital water resources.
In spite of special interest efforts of the landscape & fertilizer industry lobbies, we, the taxpayers, must have ordinances that save public dollars and reduce this source of pollution here. It’s up to us all to work together now to form a community coalition that will defeat the Red Tide & its friends.
We’re planning a big Red Tide Forum Sept. 9th at the St. Pete Times Auditorium in downtown St. Pete. We’ll show the 30 minute film from Jacksonville, The Green Monster, which motivated that city to start cleaning up the St. John’s River from the horrible algae blooms they experienced in 2005, just as we were choking from the Red Tide here. The award-winning film will be introduced by its producer, Bill Retherford. We’ll follow with a panel discussion and Q&A session that focuses on action steps for the community.
Who do you know that would join us as:
The Sierra Club Suncoast Group’s Coastal Task Force has been laying the groundwork for this coalition campaign in Pinellas County for the past several months, speaking to a variety of groups. Now it’s time for you to join us as we work together to defeat the polluters and the algae monsters they’d let continue to threaten our coastal economy and environment.
Please call with any questions.
P.S. Light refreshments will be provided by the Sierra Club. Seating is limited so
please, RSVP, so we’ll be sure to have enough!
Cathy Harrelson
Coastal Task Force Chair
Phone: 727-374-6312
Email: cathy_bam@earthlink.net
TAKE ACTION: Contact your policymakers to protest any bill which would pre-empt the efforts of our local communities from making the changes necessary to reduce this runoff into our waterways.
READ about Fertilizer Use and its Impact on Harmful Algae Blooms(Red Tide)
Most of us are aware of the effect of harmful algal blooms on our communities in Pinellas County. Even now, the bloom known as Red Tide is devastating the water quality and destroying the marine life along our coastlines. It is equally damaging to our health and our economy.
In an effort to broaden our scope of the consequences of uncontrolled and poorly planned growth and development, we must now place great importance and consideration on human activities on land, and the resulting impacts to our coastal waterways. As a result, we are beginning our efforts by focusing on curtailing storm water run-off and the nutrient infusion to our waterways from the fertilizers used on our lawns, parks, and green spaces. The increase in development has resulted in a dramatic increase in impermeable surfaces where permeable green areas once existed, causing a further increase in nutrient-rich runoff that helps feed the algal blooms.
None of this has happened overnight, but the time for solutions is now. The Coastal Task Force is reaching out to community leaders and policy-makers to change landscaping rules to require native or no maintenance plants and ground covers. So far, we have received a warm reception. But these changes won’t happen without the help of volunteers from every community in Pinellas County. We need teams to watchdog their communities and keep an eye on proposed ordinance and land use changes happening in your back yard! With your help the days of the manicured lawns of sod and impermeable cement are numbered.
Please join us on the last Wednesday of every month, 7pm, at the brand new downtown St. Pete location of the Sierra Club –111 2nd Ave NE Ste 1001 (10th Floor).
To receive our email alerts, please email Cathy Harrelson at cathy_bam@earthlink.net