Florida Department of Environmental Protection

As many as 50 private water wells in the Woodville area south of Tallahassee could have PFAS levels that exceed government standards. A nearby wastewater spray field could be the source.

The plan was part of an executive order issued in 2023 that set an ambitious timeline to build a coral pipeline to restore the ailing reef. Now labs are scrambling to shuffle funding or risk losing staff.

The deal reached between Tropical Audubon and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection dramatically scales back the project permit from 8,000 acres in cane fields to just over 2,000.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved the expenditure as part of $27 million to protect 21,500 acres of conservation and agricultural lands statewide.

Eddy Bouza is a certified flood plain manager, has studied nature-based resilience, and has directed the state's Resilient Florida Program.

"Some days you barely smell it, some days it about knocks you down."

A brief contends the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — not the Department of Environmental Protection — is constitutionally responsible for wildlife-related issues.

Help from the state would be beneficial, considering the county typically spends only around $10 million on similar projects.

The city said it believed the November samples were flawed and did not take further action. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection objected and told the city to retest, which it did last month.

The 28 updated nutrient Basin Management Action Plans target the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers, among other waterways.

Florida had 800 manatee deaths in 2022, before the number dropped to 555 in 2023 and 565 in 2024, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data.

James Gaddis claims retaliation from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.