TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Conservation groups say Florida's environmental regulators ignored a decade of warning signs - including advice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - and it ultimately led to the Piney Point wastewater leak. Now, they plan to file suit.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, HRK Holdings, and the Manatee County Port Authority have all been named in the Notice of Intent to Sue, after April's leak of a phosphogypsum stack, releasing about 215 million gallons of wastewater into Tampa Bay and prompting evacuations.

Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director and senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the suit calls for permanent closure of the site and better solutions than dumping the remaining waste into Florida's groundwater.

"If we don't file this lawsuit," said Lopez, "our concern is that the DEP, the county and HRK is going to choose a path of least resistance for getting rid of the waste that they're left managing, and deep-well injection appears to be such a path."

In a statement, the Florida DEP says it's committed to holding all involved accountable, as well as ensuring permanent closure of the site. However, Lopez and other conservation groups say the suit highlights the state's negligence, which allowed the spill to occur.

The groups note DEP is the primary agency for granting permits for operations at the site, and allege that it ignored the advice of federal regulators to not use the site as a place to store dredge material. Lopez said all parties were aware of the risks.

"Piney Point is a well-documented example of the regulatory failures of an industry, but it's not the only one," said Lopez. "We have many other phosphogypsum stacks in Florida that are in various stages of failing or failure."

The groups want to see more effort on cleanup alternatives, such as the phosphate industry-backed use of reverse osmosis systems to clean and filter wastewater.

Other plaintiffs include the ManaSota-88, Our Children's Earth Foundation, Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper.

Virginia environmentalists are frustrated by the state Department of Environmental Quality's $27,000 fine of Norfolk Southern for a 2020 train derailment.

The derailment caused 16 boxcars to spill almost 1,400 tons of coal into the Roanoke River. The town of Salem's water plant had to halt intake for about a month over concerns of possible water contamination.

Tim Cywinski, communications manager for the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, said the fine is disheartening because it does not deter derailments from happening again. He feels the state failed to take certain things into consideration while determining this fine.

"I think they should have taken into account that Norfolk Southern is one of the biggest and most profitable train and freight services industries in the United States," Cywinski pointed out. "And to give them a fine that is less than the price of a new car is honestly laughable and just offensive to the fact that it impacted the people and environment of Salem, Virginia."

Cywinski added state and federal protections need to be put in place to better hold companies accountable, and to prevent such derailments from happening again.

Derailments are not uncommon. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were more than 1,100 derailments in 2020, a number which has fluctuated in the few years since.

Since Norfolk Southern first came under fire for a crash involving hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, numerous railroad safety groups have been working to improve the industry's safety regulations.

Ann Creasy, acting deputy director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, said new regulations need to go hand in hand with levying appropriate fines against companies to deter future incidents.

"It's really about corporate accountability of ensuring that safety and workers and proactive measures are invested in on the front end," Creasy contended.

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate called the Railway Safety Act of 2023. The bill aims to boost safety requirements for trains transporting hazardous materials. Hearings have been held, and it is currently under review by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

New York environmentalists are protesting banks heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry as part of a national day of action today (Tuesday). Led by the group Third Act, protests across the U.S. will consist of rallies, art installations, and activists cutting up credit cards. According to the Rainforest Action Network's 2022 Fossil Fuel Finance report, the world's 60 largest banks invested over $4.5-trillion in fossil fuels since the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted in 2016.

Vanessa Arcara, president and co-founder of Third Act, said banks like JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are some of the biggest offenders in the U.S.

"These four banks alone have provided well over one trillion dollars in lending and underwriting to the fossil fuel companies that build things like new coal plants, fracking wells, gas export terminals, and more," she said.

Arcara said one person at a time closing their accounts with these banks will not force them into bankruptcy, but hopes these protests shine a light on what these banks are doing. Since 2017, several so-called "green banks, including one in New York, have opened. They are dedicated to investing in myriad environmentally friendly and positive climate change projects.

Some banks have made commitments to turn over a new leaf on investing in green projects. In its 2022 Climate Report, JP Morgan Chase aims to finance over $2.5 trillion dollars in sustainable development, with over $106-billion of green activities financed. Yet, according to Third Act, the company has been playing both sides of the environmental game. Arcara noted people need to pay attention to where banks are putting their money to use.

"A lot of these banks have signed on to the various councils, saying publicly that they're in support of climate targets. But that certainly doesn't bear out when you look at the numbers and the types of investment strategies that they continue to pursue," she said.

Along with the large investment made in green projects, JP Morgan Chase, along with Citi, provided the most financing to offshore oil and gas in 2021, according to the Rainforest Action Network report. In total, big banks funneled about $53-billion into that industry.


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New York's State Legislature is considering a bill to ensure that companies contracting with the state don't contribute to tropical deforestation.

The Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act holds companies contracting with New York State accountable for any deforestation they might take part in, whether that's through how their product is made or through their supply chain.

A study from the University of Cambridge finds 94 companies have adopted zero-deforestation commitments, although most are not put into practice.

Marcus Sibley - director of conservation partnerships for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for the National Wildlife Federation - said New York has worked hard to fight climate change, and this bill is a new weapon in that fight.

"We're saying now, we've already taken one major step," said Sibley. "The next major step is to pay attention to how our actions are impacting abroad as well as domestically."

A previous version of this bill was introduced, but faced opposition to language referring to boreal forests.

The bill also creates the supply-chain transparency assistance program to aid small and medium-sized businesses as well as minority- and women-owned businesses to utilize compliant supply chains.

The bill is under review by the Procurement and Contracts Committee.

One of the long-term effects this bill's passage could have is reducing the superstorms afflicting New York. In recent years, storms have gathered power, causing billions of dollars in damage.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 60 major weather events between 2020 and 2022 cost more than $430 Billion.

Sibley said despite steps being taken to combat climate change, New York is still in harm's way.

"New Yorkers are still in harm's way of daily heat waves, life-threatening storms and severe economic climate impacts," said Sibley. "This is why the impacts of climate change, they don't respect our artificial state and national boundaries."

Outside of this bill, Sibley noted that New Yorkers can take their own steps to take a stand against tropical deforestation by checking where certain products come from. This is becoming a more important issue as 72% of shoppers say transparency is important to them with in-store and online shopping, according to a report from the Food Industry Association and Nielsen I-Q.