Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR)

The Bat Cave Excursion

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 19:44:16 GMT

Visit the Aquifer adventure

This OSFR adventure was in April 2025 where our members went into the Santa Fe College Bat Cave and were able to see the Floridan Aquifer up close. The excursion was led by Florida Speleological Society caver Niel Greishaw. You can see the actual path the aquifer takes through the karst rock formations. Notice how the aquifer creates a scalloped wear pattern on the ceiling of the cave. This underground landscape makes our area uniquely sensitive to water withdrawals and pollution. From inside the cave you can see how the aquifer supports the rock structure and how acidic solution erodes the rock. We live in a truly remarkable area and this video is a brief tour of its hidden marvel.

Thanks to all those who attended, Florida Speleological Society caver Niel Greishaw, and to Tyler Jones for his photography.

Ten Years of FDEP Inactivity & Malfeasance

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:38:00 GMT

The Florida Springs Council has sent the following information regarding how the DEP refuses to follow Florida law to do its job. There is no excuse for this non-action. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. […]

Greenwashing Alive and Well Among Water Managing Districts.

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 15:31:00 GMT

Two articles I came across recently show once again how our state dissimulates to hoodwink the public into thinking they are on top of our [nonexistant] water protection. One is this article at the South […]

No Opposition Yet For Ocklawaha Restoration

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:47:00 GMT

Doesn’t sound too good for DeSantis to sign the bill, but we have hope. Read the original article here in Florida Politics. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org – A river is like […]

Judge Hands Trump a Fifth Loss in His Effort to Halt Offshore Wind Projects

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:18:00 GMT

There is still a bit of common sense left in the world. Read the original article with photos here in the New York Times. *Photo from Wikipedia Commons. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org […]

Septic to Sewer

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:35:00 GMT

Septic to sewer is always a good thing. A wise choice for using the funds. Read the original article here at WUFT News. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org – A river is like […]

Drilling Is Underway to Examine Antarctica’s Melting Ice From Below

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 11:36:00 GMT

The Thwaites Glacier is one of the largest and fastest shrinking glaciers in Antarctica. If and when it slides into the ocean, it could add to global sea-level rise. Scientists want to learn what is […]

Dairies and Pollution

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 13:13:00 GMT

Florida fails to protect the aquifer from huge amounts of nitrogen from dairies. OSFR advisor Dr. Bob Knight has done a study on this topic. Read the original article here in the Tampa Bay Times. […]

Horrible Bills to Oppose

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:50:00 GMT

This message can not be repeated too often since the stakes are so high! Please contact your representative to oppose these horrible bills. See this and more at VoteWater.org Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. […]

Read more . . . Horrible Bills to Oppose

Florida Scientists Say Algae Blooms Are Expanding Worldwide

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:04:00 GMT

One of the likely causes of this is because the world has more and more pollution. Read the original article here at WFSU News. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org – A river is […]

Overview of C0P30

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:46:00 GMT

One more overview of the convention in Manaus. They all sound pretty much the same. Read the original article here in the Invading Sea. Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum. jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org – A river is […]

Litigation Involving Mosaic

duda@neonone.com — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 06:43:16 GMT

Litigation Involving Mosaic

Tampa’s Mosaic says legal challenge to phosphate road plan now ‘moot’

The Center for Biological Diversity filed the legal challenge in February, about two months after the EPA approved the use of phosphogypsum in a pilot project at Mosaic’s New Wales facility. The suit cites concerns about radon emissions and potential air and groundwater pollution.

BY JIM SAUNDERS
News Service of Florida

Mosaic Fertilizer on Friday told a federal appeals court that a legal battle should end because the company has completed parts of a Polk County road project that include phosphogypsum, a radioactive byproduct of the phosphate industry.

Mosaic urged the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss as “moot” a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity challenging the project. The environmental group filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which last year approved the use of phosphogypsum for the pilot project on Mosaic property.

“Mosaic began construction activities the week of August 25, 2025, and began applying phosphogypsum as road base on October 7, 2025,” the company, which intervened in the case on the side of the EPA, said in Friday’s filing. “It completed all portions of the road that involved phosphogypsum on November 4, 2025. Although Mosaic is still working to complete some ‘control’ sections of the road, those sections do not use any phosphogypsum — they are constructed from common road materials. Mosaic and University of Florida scientists and engineers will also test and monitor the road base as described in the (EPA) approval.”

Mosaic attorneys added, “This action (lawsuit) is now moot because construction of the phosphogypsum portions of the pilot road project is complete. The court should accordingly dismiss the (Center for Biological Diversity) petition for review….”

The issue of using phosphogypsum in road-building has long been controversial, as opponents have pointed to potential cancer risks from the substance, which is typically stored in huge stacks, known as “gypstacks.”

In challenging the project, the Center for Biological Diversity has contended, in part, that a 1992 federal rule bars using phosphogypsum in road projects. It has cited concerns about radon emissions and potential air and groundwater pollution.

The EPA said in a court filing this year that the project was limited to a 3,200-foot road. Mosaic — a major player in the phosphate industry — used phosphogypsum from a stack on the New Wales property for the project, according to a declaration a company official attached to the company’s filing Friday.

Mosaic and the EPA have disputed the Center for Biological Diversity’s arguments in the case.

“At bottom, EPA approved a site-specific project presenting total risks that are at least an order of magnitude less than placement of phosphogypsum in a stack,” EPA attorneys wrote in a September brief.

Mosaic said in a separate September brief that the Center for Biological Diversity’s “real concern is that the pilot will serve as a gateway to broader beneficial use of phosphogypsum in road base.”

Phosphogypsum includes radium, which decays to form radon gas. Radium and radon can cause cancer, and the giant stacks are used to try to limit public exposure to radon emissions, according to information on the EPA’s website.

Recycling Can’t Solve Our Plastic Crisis

duda@neonone.com — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 06:54:29 GMT

Litigation Involving Mosaic

Judith Enck is a former EPA regional administrator and the author of the new book, “The Problem With Plastic”

Less than 6% of plastic waste in the United States is recycled. This number tends to surprise people, in part, because it is a hard truth to accept. We all want a magic wand that can effortlessly eliminate the plastic trail of consumerism. Plus, we’ve been misled to believe that sea turtles would stop choking on our plastic waste if we faithfully chucked it into the recycling bin.

That deception was intentional. Powerful fossil fuel and chemical companies—the ones creating the pollution in the first place— knew as early as the 1970s that plastic recycling would never be able to handle the world’s plastic waste. At that time, consumers and policymakers were realizing there were severe environmental consequences to single-use, disposable plastics, and companies were feeling the heat. To prevent their products from being restricted by new laws, companies banded together to plant positive messaging about plastic recycling across our society. In the 1990s, television commercials about recycling felt as prevalent as Beanie Babies.

Industry deception continues today. For instance, when you place your old plastic shopping bags in the drop-off bins at grocery stores , that packaging often still ends up in a landfill. And the triangular “chasing arrows” symbol that everyone associates with recyclability routinely appears on non-recyclable plastic products.

Plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, wasn’t designed to be recycled. Roughly 16,000 chemicals can be found in plastic , many of them purposefully added during the production process to give plastic characteristics like flexibility, strength, color, and resistance to sunlight. Different plastic products contain different combinations of those chemicals, and these varied plastic types must all be sorted and recycled separately.

What’s more, plastic—unlike glass and aluminum—loses its functionality when it’s recycled. A glass bottle or aluminum can may be recycled into another glass bottle or aluminum can over and over again. By contrast, a plastic bottle can only be recycled into another plastic bottle two or three times before it becomes something like carpeting or clothing , which typically ultimately ends up in a landfill or incinerator, polluting our air, soil, and water. In this way, recycling doesn’t sustainably prevent plastic waste from ending up in the environment—it just delays it.

Now, from New York to California , state attorneys general are filing lawsuits against plastic producers like PepsiCo and ExxonMobil not just for their pollution but also their recyclability claims.

While the plastics industry was pulling the wool over our eyes, it was also exponentially increasing plastic production. The result: Plastic waste in the United States rose from 13.6 billion pounds in 1980 to 71.4 billion pounds in 2018—a whopping 263% increase.

In less than a century, companies polluted the planet with so much plastic that it has reached every corner of the globe, even the most unexpected places: arctic sea ice , the Mariana Trench , remote mountains , rain in our national parks , and, perhaps most alarmingly, throughout our bodies .

Microplastics —the small bits of plastic that are constantly shedding off plastic products—have been found in nearly every human organ system , including the lungs , blood , brain , testicles , placenta , and breast milk .

Researchers and medical professionals are publishing vital new research about what our plastic diet is doing to our bodies. Of those 16,000 chemicals found in plastic mentioned earlier, 4,200 are known to be harmful to human health or the environment. Plastic and its chemicals are believed to be associated with cancer , heart attacks , hormone disruption and more.

A study published earlier this year in The Lancet found that plastic is responsible for at least $1.5 trillion a year in health-related damages worldwide. Those damages begin at the very start of plastic’s life cycle , when fossil fuels are extracted from the Earth, and persist during every subsequent stage of their journey from store shelves, to recycling centers, to their inevitable disposal.

So what can we do? If we can’t recycle our way out of this mess, and plastic’s environmental and human health harms begin from its very conception anyway, how do we reverse the plastic pollution crisis?

First, companies need to stop producing so much plastic and shift to reusable and refillable systems. If reducing packaging or using reusable packaging is not possible, companies should at least shift to paper, cardboard, glass, or metal. These can be made from recycled material and actually get recycled again. Companies are not going to do this on their own, which is why policymakers—the officials we elected to protect us—need to require them to do so.

It’s the only way to ensure people are prioritized over plastic.