Hillsborough health officials send Red Tide warning for Tampa Bay

Be careful around or stay away from waters near the Hillsborough-Manatee line. Samples were taken close to the site of the Piney Point discharge.

Elevated levels of Red Tide were detected in water samples taken from parts of Tampa Bay. Now Hillsborough County health officials are advising people against swimming in certain areas.

Medium concentrations of Red Tide were detected in four samples from June 1 and June 2 pulled around Port Manatee in lower Tampa Bay, according to a map from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That area, near the Hillsborough-Manatee border, is where more than 200 million gallons of wastewater were discharged in early April from the old Piney Point fertilizer plant property.

“It’s sort of a worst-case scenario for us right now going into the rainy season,” said Ed Sherwood, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

Runoff from storms typically washes pollution into the water. But the Piney Point release makes this season different.

“It’s basically been seeded or fertilized already,” Sherwood said.