MANATEE COUNTY – As state and local officials work fast to patch up the phosphate leak at Piney Point. Commercial fishermen are concerned the role the leak will play when the state begins to deal with Red Tide blooms.
It’s a race against the clock. “It really bothers us all see the – keep seeing the ecosystem go through this vicious cycle,” said Capt. Justin Moore.
A marine ecosystem on the verge of falling under attack of another nasty Red Tide Bloom. Cpt. Moore, a second-generation fishing guide has navigated the waters of Tampa Bay since the late 90s.
For Justin, an Anna Maria Island native, he and others relying on Florida’s booming marine life to make ends meet. He’s concerned the nutrient rich water released into Tampa Bay is beginning to show signs the harmful algae bloom is returning to the Suncoast.
“Really from Apollo Beach to Anna Maria Island Sound survived real well in the last red cycle,” said Justin. “And we’re just – we’re worried now that we may lose that.”
Since wastewater has been pumped out of the phosphate stack at Piney Point and dumped into Tampa Bay, he and other fishermen have noticed significant changes to the bay.
“The water did start to get discolored. And it continued up the bay, Mariposa Point, Bishop’s Harbor,” he said. “We turned around about Port Manatee. It definitely wasn’t normal water conditions.”
His father, Cpt. Scott Moore, is reliving the past. Having been around when the Piney Point facility suffered its last leak in 2001 dumping 525 million gallons of wastewater into Bishop’s Harbor.
This time, he hopes the national attention this leak has received brings a more permanent solution by lawmakers.
“We want them cleaned up; we want it done a different way,” said Scott. “They’re doing it old style; they’re piling water on top of toxic materials. They need to spend the money that needs to be spent.”
But for now, saving what’s left of Florida’s Coastal and Aquatic Ecosystem is all they can do when battling a crisis plaguing Manatee County since the 1960s.
“We really, really need that right now because we have to have water quality and that’s the only thing we have that will naturally clean the water,” said Justin.
