Almost everyone agrees that the discharge of more than 200 million gallons of polluted water from Piney Point in April was necessary to save lives and property after a leak in one of the phosphate plant’s gypsum stack led to a warning of an imminent collapse.

...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at a news conference on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, downplayed the effects of the discharge while addressing red tide concerns in the St. Pete communities. DeSantis blamed Hurricane Elsa for moving red tide farther north into the bay.

On Friday, scientists from Tampa Bay Estuary and Sarasota Bay Estuary disputed those claims during a community discussion about red tide and water quality in the bays.

Dave Tomasko, director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program said the governor is likely being advised by scientists “we don’t necessarily agree with. Elsa didn’t kill those fish. They were already dead as of the July Fourth weekend and Elsa blew those dead fish toward the shore.”