Sarasota County's Waters Gaining Positive Attention from EPA

SARASOTA COUNTY - Water quality and flood control projects here are paying off in a healthier Sarasota Bay, and they are also receiving national attention.

Nancy Stoner, the federal Environmental Protection Agency's acting assistant administrator, visited the county on Thursday to see which successful projects here could be replicated in other corners of the country.

While the overall improvement to Sarasota Bay was the draw, the focus was on Phillippi Creek, a still-troubled waterway that has seen a 60 percent reduction in nitrogen pollution since 1988.

"There will be a lot of interest in what people have done here and how it worked to restore these water bodies," Stoner said.