PALMETTO – When the former Piney Point phosphate plant is finally closed, the site will require monitoring – permanently – the Florida House of Representatives’ Agriculture and Flooding Subcommittee learned last week.
Closure of the environmentally-compromised site “… does mean that we’ll be doing monitoring of the site perpetually now until you and I are long gone from this planet,” subcommittee member Rep. Tobin “Toby” Overdorf (R- Port St. Lucie) said to Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Secretary Shawn Hamilton on Sept. 22 during Hamilton’s update on Piney Point.
“Yes, sir. Long-term monitoring will be required. That is a fact and is expected,” said Hamilton, calling the closure process of the site at 13300 U.S. Hwy. 41 N. a “multi-year event.”
A meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 4–7 p.m. at the Manatee County Central Library Auditorium, 1301 Barcarrota Blvd., Bradenton for public comment on the FDEP’s draft permit to allow Manatee County to build a deep injection well for Piney Point’s wastewater.
A leak was detected at the site in a gypsum stack that holds a retention pond on March 25, and FDEP approved the discharge of 215 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay to avoid an even larger spill that could have flooded area homes and businesses. The damaged area was patched.
The contaminated water contains phosphogypsum process water, seawater, rain, dredge material from Port Manatee and nitrogen and phosphorus, which act as fertilizer for red tide. The toxic algae has caused fish kills and respiratory irritation in and around Tampa Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and connected waterways – including around Anna Maria Island – since mid-April. Medium levels of the toxic algae were detected in water samples last week off AMI.
“Nutrients cause red tide. There’s no debate about that,” Hamilton said.
Since the discharge, the contaminated water is being treated to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in the “unfortunate event” that another discharge becomes necessary, he said.
Each time it rains into the open pond, stormwater comes in contact with the contaminated water, increasing its volume, which was 273 million gallons as of Saturday, Sept. 25. Hamilton said the goal is to prevent stormwater from contacting the contaminated water, “…so you’re talking about getting to a point where the only thing coming off of that site to a large degree is clean stormwater.”
More than 2.2 million gallons of treated water have been transported to Manatee County’s North Regional Water Reclamation Facility to keep the pond from overflowing, with stormwater being discharged separately. As of last weekend, the pond had the capacity to store another 9.4 inches of rainfall.
“Dewatering” the plant is the first priority for the new receiver, Herbert Donica, a business lawyer and partner of the Tampa-based Donica Law Firm, appointed in August to manage the 466-acre site owned by HRK Holdings LLC. The company is in bankruptcy and is the subject of a repossession, as well as the defendant in two other lawsuits, one brought by FDEP and one by a group of environmental organizations.
To that end, FDEP issued a draft permit earlier this month for Manatee County to build a deep injection well to contain the contaminated water, which local environmental organizations oppose.
Asked about the safety of the well system, Hamilton called it “a proven technology,” adding, “We would not be supportive of anything that directly put our drinking water at risk.”
A public meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 4–7 p.m. at the Manatee County Central Library Auditorium, 1301 Barcarrota Blvd., Bradenton, to allow an opportunity for citizens to provide input on the draft permit as well ask questions and obtain information about the draft permit and permitting process.
Anyone unable to attend the meeting in person who wishes to provide public comments in writing can mail them to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Aquifer Protection Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3530, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400.
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