sive mangrove areas from Key Largo to Key West, and invertebrate life on 

 beaches along the Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys. The cost of the cleanup 

 operation was over $367,430. The owners and the captain of the offending 

 vessel could be fined as much as $15,000. 



Industrial related hazardous wastes incidents . The groundwater was con- 

 taminated by a battery plant in Hillsborough County owned by the Gulf Coast 

 Lead Co. which in 1978-81 regularly discharged sulfuric acid, nickel, chrom- 

 ium, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, barium, and strontium. The DER and EPA 

 required Gulf Coast Lead Co. to monitor groundwater for contamination. Nearby 

 wells were not contaminated, but water in the company monitoring wells had 

 excessively low pH and high heavy metal concentrations. No remedial action 

 for construction of stormwater drainage and acid neutralization systems is 

 currently underway. (Data Appendix, Table EIR 7, contains additional infor- 

 mation. ) 



Improper disposal of infectious wastes . In 1980-81 infectious materials 

 of the red bag" variety from area hospitals, veterinary clinics, and other 

 medical facilities in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties have been inciner- 

 ated. Materials included soiled bandages, hypodermic needles, blood samples, 

 and other infectious wastes, but because of deficient incinerator capacity, 

 some materials are buried in landfills. Proper handling and discharge of 

 these hazardous wastes have been directed by officials of the St. Petersburg 

 Department of Environmental Sanitation and is proceeding at this time (further 

 information is available in the Data Appendix, Table EIR 8). 



The list of sites in EIR Table 10, "Inventory of Potential Hazardous 

 Wastes Sites by County" in the Data Appendix lists the most serious hazardous 

 waste facilities in the State. The Tampa Bay area contains the largest number 

 of potential hazardous waste sites identified by the Hazardous Waste Section 

 of the DER and rated by "Mitre" score from least to most serious risk. The 

 Tampa Bay facilities are typically in the mid-range with values from 40 to 55. 

 Hillsborough County has one facility, Schylkill Metals in Plant City, that is 

 ranked (59) more serious than all of those in Tampa. These scores reflect the 

 professional judgement of the interdisciplinary DER and EPA staffs that assem- 

 bled to rank the potential sites and their degree of risk to the environment. 



FISHERY LOSSES 



As a peninsular state, Florida possesses large areas of high quality 

 fresh and salt waters. The State's economy and its $19 billion tourist indus- 

 try is linked to and dependent upon the quality of the State's natural 

 resources with special importance attached to the quantity and quality of 

 fresh water. 



The total value of Florida's tourist trade in 1980 was $19 billion in 

 tourist related expenditures and over $785 million in State revenues. Water 

 pollution in Florida reported by Bell and Canterbury (1976) has decreased the 

 value of the tourist industry by 8%. 



The freshwater sport fishing in 1975 was valued at over $1 billion and 

 directly and indirectly supported about 75,500 jobs. If pollution were re- 

 duced as set forth in the Clean Water Act, the man-days of sport fishing alone 



269 



