Industrial wast' 



Domestic waste 



M,llior> gallon! per day 



Million lih*«» per day 



Figure 43. — The flow of pollutants into estuarine areas 

 by coastal segment. Circled numbers are coastal segment 

 numbers. 



inadequate Hooker Point sewage treatment 

 plant, the major source of sewage in Tampa Bay, 

 with a tertiary treatment plant at a cost of about 

 $84 million. The obnoxious odor emanating 

 from Hillsborough Bay due mainly to decompo- 

 sition of the red alga, Gracilaria, has been thor- 

 oughly investigated (FSBH, 1965; U.S. Federal 

 Water Pollution Control Administration, 1969b) . 

 Other effects of pollution in Tampa Bay include 

 reduction of the number of species of mollusks 

 in Hillsborough Bay from over 20 to 4 (Taylor, 

 Hall, and Saloman, 1970) and evidence of eu- 

 trophication in Boca Ciega Bay (Taylor and 

 Saloman, 1968). A special act of the Florida 

 legislature in 1947 made the Fenholloway River 

 a waste depository stream for Taylor County. 

 It was surveyed twice in the early 1950's when it 

 was a good fishing stream and eminently unsuited 

 to receive wastes because of its limited quantity 

 of dissolved oxygen (FSBH, 1951, 1954). Sa- 

 ville (1966) confirmed its degradation. It re- 

 mains unsuited either as a waste depository 



stream or as a fishing stream and is today a vile- 

 smelling open sewer for the transport of paper 

 mill wastes to the Gulf. The St. Marks River 

 is subject to domestic sewage pollution and oc- 

 casional oil spills (FSBH, 1964a). To the west 

 a small industrial complex that includes a paper 

 mill has altered the water quality and biota of 

 St. Joseph Bay (FSBH, 1962b; Copeland, 1966). 

 In St. Andrew Bay, a sanitary survey demon- 

 strated polluted conditions (FSBH, 1962a). 

 Fish kills and other evidences of gross pollution 

 in Pensacola and Escambia Bays have been in- 

 vestigated by de Sylva (1955), Murdock (1955), 

 FSBH (1964b), Croker and Wilson (1965), 

 FSBH (1966a). A recent study showed that 

 the entire upper section of Escambia Bay is in 

 a state of accelerated eutrophication (U.S. Fed- 

 eral Water Pollution Control Administration, 

 1970a) ; local residents have experienced poor 

 fishing for years in areas that once were bounti- 

 ful (Toner, 1971). The results of two compre- 

 hensive surveys of Perdido Bay are available 

 (FSBH, 1967a; U.S. Federal Water Pollution 

 Control Administration, 1970b) ; both surveys 

 document heavy pollution in the northern part 

 of the bay. 



The States in cooperation with the Federal 

 government set the water quality standards of 

 estuaries under the Water Quality Act portion 

 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

 (33 U.S.C. 466 et seq.). When approved, the 

 standards constitute both enforceable State and 

 Federal law because estuaries are interstate 

 waters (See Ch. 28-5, Supp. 52, Fla. Statutes). 

 Counties and municipalities do not set water 

 quality standards, but they may determine the 

 water use of specific areas (Wendell and Schwan, 

 1969). For example, County governments have 

 closed certain parts of Sarasota Bay and Boca 

 Ciega Bay to shellfish harvesting and all of Hills- 

 borough Bay to water contact activities. 



Oil pollution is illegal. Stiff penalties were 

 enacted in mid-1970 making the polluter liable 

 to the State for all costs of cleanup or other dam- 

 ages. In addition, the pilot and the master of 

 the vessel or the person in charge of a terminal 

 facility who fails to give immediate notification 

 of an oil spill to the port manager and the U.S. 

 Coast Guard shall be guilty of a felony and sub- 

 ject to two years in prison and a fine of $10,000 

 (Ch. 70-376, Fla. Statutes) . The law was passed 

 soon after a tanker spilled 5,000-10,000 gal. 



110 



