Piney Point: What you need to know on Monday about evacuations, wastewater dangers

our most valuable asset is you. with your help, we can create change.

fan newsletter

Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune | By Brian Ries Jesse Mendoza

Posted on April 5th, 2021

Location: United States, Florida

Industry type: Phosphate Industry

Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of wastewater into the Tampa Bay ecosystem from a reservoir at Piney Point – a former phosphate plant in Manatee County. A leak in the liner of the reservoir has caused a partial breach in one of the containment walls and officials hope that pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater out of the reservoir will relieve pressure on the walls and reduce the chance of an uncontrolled major breach.

The water of Tampa Bay near Port Manatee. Millions of gallons of industrial wastewater are being pumped into Tampa Bay as the result of a leak at the Piney Point fertilizer plant processing plant.

More than 300 hundred homes and multiple businesses in the area around Piney Point have been evacuated. State and local officials are coordinating efforts and a state of emergency has been declared by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

On Monday, expect more updates, as well as a 12:30 p.m. press conference with U.S. Rep Vern Buchanan.

What are the latest efforts to avert a breach at Piney Point?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mobilized state resources to fend off a potentially catastrophic spill of hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted industrial wastewater from the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant into nearby homes and businesses by working to double the speed at which wastewater is being dumped into Tampa Bay.

What are the latest efforts to avert a breach at Piney Point?

The Florida National Guard airlifted more pumps into the area and officials hope that they will be able to double the current 33 million gallons a day of wastewater they are pumping from Piney Point into Tampa Bay to close to 70 million gallons a day.

There are only approximately 300 million gallons of wastewater left in the damaged reservoir at Piney Point.

What’s the status of evacuations due to Piney Point?

More than 300 households and multiple businesses have been evacuated from the area surrounding Piney Point. Some have been provided with accommodation by Manatee County and the Red Cross. In addition, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office announced that they were moving 345 inmates of the nearby Manatee County Jail to an undisclosed location, in order to clear the ground floor of the facility in case of flooding.

Dr. Scott Hopes, acting Manatee County administrator, said that there is now below 300 million gallons of water left to be pumped from the leaking reservoir, during the Piney Point Wastewater Release press conference held at Manatee County's Public Safety Department in Bradenton on Sunday afternoon, April 4, 2021.

At the press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday, Manatee County Acting Administrator Scott Hopes said that if there is a full breach of the walls at the damaged Piney Point reservoir, models show that “as high as a 20-foot wall of water” could surge into the area.

“So if you are in an evacuation area and you have not heeded that, you need to think twice and follow the orders,” Hopes said.

Will Manatee County’s drinking water be affected by the issues at Piney Point?

One of the most frequent questions from Manatee County residents this weekend has been: “How does this affect our drinking water?”

Manatee County issued a special press release on Sunday to address these concerns.

“I want to say that Manatee County Utilities customers can rest assured that our drinking water is completely safe to drink,” said County Commission Chairman Vanessa Baugh. “The water distribution system is a closed system without any way for flood water to enter. There is also no threat at all to our primary source of drinking water, Lake Manatee.”

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein said there is no impact to groundwater from the Piney Point water. He said DEP is actively monitoring controlled discharges to capture any impacts to the environment.

Even if a major breach occurs, Manatee County officials believe that well water will continue to be safe, but will direct the Department of Health to do testing if that happens.

More:Piney Point Live Updates: Manatee County jail moving 345 inmates in case of flooding

Who is to blame – and who is responsible – for the problems at Piney Point?

State Rep. Will Robinson said a permanent solution has been difficult to find over the years because the private property has changed owners multiple times, and government officials have continuously debated over proper solutions, as well as whether taxpayer funding should be used to clean up private property.

“That is the problem,” Robinson said. “It is an incredibly challenging puzzle because you have a landowner – it is private property – this landowner bought the property with full knowledge of the environmental conditions on it. So it’s the taxpayer, because of the inefficiencies of the landowner’s financial situation, that are having to step up and clean up the site.”

That said, both FDEP Secretary Noah Valenstein and Gov. Ron DeSantis have said that they will be taking Piney Point owners HRK Holdings to task.

PDF