FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2003
CONTACT: Merritt Mitchell, (813) 795-0954
Agencies Fund Restoration
Of Alafia River
--Grants available to improve estuaries--
TAMPA – State and local agencies are providing over $1
million to restore, preserve and improve the estuarine habitats
in the Alafia River and adjacent areas of Tampa Bay. The Alafia
River Spill/Mulberry Phosphate Restoration Council, formed to
aid the river’s environmental recovery following a 1997
wastewater spill, announced it will fund estuarine restoration
projects to improve habitat along the Alafia, which flows into
Tampa Bay.
"This is an investment in the environmental future of
Tampa Bay,” said Deborah Getzoff, director of the Department
of Environmental Protection’s Southwest District. “Partnering
with local groups to restore the Alafia River will have a
lasting impact on the waterway and its wildlife.”
State and federal agencies recovered over $3.6 million in
damages following a spill of millions of gallons of acidic
wastewater into the Alafia River six years ago. The spill from
the Mulberry Phosphate fertilizer plant in Polk County impacted
fish, wildlife and wetlands over a wide stretch of the 70-mile
waterway.
“These funds, along with the permanent closing of the
phosphogypsum stacks, will go a long way toward protecting the
Alafia River and surrounding ecosystem,” said Getzoff. “We
are encouraging natural resource managers, researchers, schools
and individuals to help with this million dollar restoration
effort.”
In 2002, the Alafia River Spill/Mulberry Phosphate
Restoration Council formed to restore oyster reefs, estuarine
wetlands and habitat in the affected waterway. The Council
includes representatives from the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, Hillsborough County Environmental
Protection Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
The Council is accepting proposals through December 8, 2003.
Interested groups can contact the Department of Environmental
Protection at (813) 744-6100, extension 440.
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Press Office
