There's still some rain and winds whipping around, but we'll in good shape for now. But the enviromential situation going into Hillsborough Bay could be changed for the worse very soon.

It seems as though since this morning, there has been a breech of a fertilizer gypsum stack at a Cargill facility in eastern Hillsborough County, causing a potentially highly acidic river of wastewater sludge to slide down the stack and into a creek which eventually flows into the bay. The waste, as much as 120 million gallons, reportedly rates 7 on the acidity scale and is deadly to fish and plant life, as well as possibly causing a burning sensation to human with long enough contact.

Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean was contridictory in two interviews. On WFTS-TV 28, she strongly disputed the 120 million gallon figure, using a much smaller figure provided by Cargill. She also said that the Coast Guard told her they were giving the lead on this situation to the Florida Department of Enviromential Protection. But in the TBO.com story online, it is noted that Ms. Bean said that the USCG was taking the lead. Also in the WFTS interview, she noted that she called FDEP as well as the county enviromential department and the Coast Guard as soon as she was informed of the breach. Problem is, the Secretary of Enviromential Protection had already made the announcement in Tallahassee a half hour earlier.

What's the REAL STORY???