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Governor Scott allocates $2.2 million to expand Mote Marine red tide relief efforts

Posted at 12:13 PM, Sep 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-24 17:17:27-04

Governor Scott announced Monday that the State of Florida will direct a $2 million+ investment to test innovative technologies to mitigate the effects of red tide.

The funds are designed to support specialized clay field experiments and other innovative approaches for controlling and mitigating the impacts of red tide.

The state cites Mote's past success with their tanks at Mote Marine Laboratory aquarium and canals in Boca Grande, systems that proved to clean water and rid it of algae that causes red tide.

"As our state continues to battle naturally-occurring red tide along our Gulf Coast, we will stop at nothing to help our communities deal with this issue," Governor Scott said. "Today, I'm proud to announce the latest of our aggressive actions to fight red tide and direct nearly $2.2 million to Mote Marine Laboratory to expand its Ozone Treatment Systems, and fund work of a new partnership between the state and world-renowned scientists that we announced last week between FWC, Woods Hole, Mote Marine Laboratory, USF and DEP to conduct new field testing of a specialized clay focused on quelling red tide."

Mote Marine officials said the testing of the new technology will start within a few months.