Initial estuarine response to inorganic nutrient inputs from a legacy mining facility adjacent to Tampa Bay, Florida

Marcus W Beck; Andrew Altieri; Christine Angelini; Maya C Burke; Jing Chen; Diana W Chin; Jayne Gardiner; Chuanmin Hu; Katherine A Hubbard; Yonggang Liu; Cary Lopez; Miles Medina; Elise Morrison; Edward J Phlips; Gary E Raulerson; Sheila Scolaro; Edward T Sherwood; David Tomasko; Robert H Weisberg; Joseph Whalen

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113598

Initial estuarine response to inorganic nutrient inputs from a legacy mining facility adjacent to Tampa Bay, Florida

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 May:178:113598. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113598. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Authors

Marcus W Beck¹, Andrew Altieri², Christine Angelini³, Maya C Burke⁴, Jing Chen⁵, Diana W Chin⁶, Jayne Gardiner⁷, Chuanmin Hu⁸, Katherine A Hubbard⁹, Yonggang Liu¹⁰, Cary Lopez¹¹, Miles Medina¹², Elise Morrison¹³, Edward J Phlips¹⁴, Gary E Raulerson¹⁵, Sheila Scolaro¹⁶, Edward T Sherwood¹⁷, David Tomasko¹⁸, Robert H Weisberg¹⁹, Joseph Whalen²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: mbeck@tbep.org.
² University of Florida, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, 365 Weil Hall, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: andrew.altieri@essie.ufl.edu.
³ University of Florida, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, 365 Weil Hall, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: christine.angelini@essie.ufl.edu.
⁴ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: mburke@tbep.org.
⁵ University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 830 1st Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: jchen15@usf.edu.
⁶ University of Florida, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, 365 Weil Hall, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: diwchin@gmail.com.
⁷ New College of Florida, Natural Sciences Division, Heiser Natural Science E256, 5800 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA. Electronic address: jgardiner@ncf.edu.
⁸ University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 830 1st Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: huc@usf.edu.
⁹ Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: katherine.hubbard@myfwc.com.
¹⁰ University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 830 1st Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: yliu@usf.edu.
¹¹ Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: cary.lopez@myfwc.com.
¹² University of Florida, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, 365 Weil Hall, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: miles.medina@ufl.edu.
¹³ University of Florida, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment, 365 Weil Hall, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Electronic address: elise.morrison@essie.ufl.edu.
¹⁴ University of Florida, School of Forest, Fisheries, & Geomatics Sciences, 7922 NW 71st Street, PO Box 110600, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA. Electronic address: phlips@ufl.edu.
¹⁵ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: graulerson@tbep.org.
¹⁶ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: sscolaro@tbep.org.
¹⁷ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: esherwood@tbep.org.
¹⁸ Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, 111 S Orange Avenue #200w, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA. Electronic address: dave@sarasotabay.org.
¹⁹ University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 830 1st Street S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: weisberg@usf.edu.
²⁰ Tampa Bay Estuary Program, 263 13th Avenue S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA. Electronic address: jwhalen@tbep.org.

PMID: 35366551
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113598

Abstract

Legacy mining facilities pose significant risks to aquatic resources. From March 30th to April 9th, 2021, 814 million liters of phosphate mining wastewater and marine dredge water from the Piney Point facility were released into lower Tampa Bay (Florida, USA). This resulted in an estimated addition of 186 metric tons of total nitrogen, exceeding typical annual external nitrogen load estimates to lower Tampa Bay in a matter of days. An initial phytoplankton bloom (non-harmful diatoms) was first observed in April. Filamentous cyanobacteria blooms (Dapis spp.) peaked in June, followed by a bloom of the red tide organism Karenia brevis. Reported fish kills tracked K. brevis concentrations, prompting cleanup of over 1600 metric tons of dead fish. Seagrasses had minimal changes over the study period. By comparing these results to baseline environmental monitoring data, we demonstrate adverse water quality changes in response to abnormally high and rapidly delivered nitrogen loads.

Keywords: Macroalgae; Nitrogen; Phosphate mining; Piney Point; Seagrass; Tampa Bay.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bays*
Cyanobacteria*
Florida
Harmful Algal Bloom
Mining
Nitrogen / analysis
Nutrients
Water Pollution*

Substances

Nitrogen