PALMETTO – Prompted by a 2021 lawsuit by multiple conservation groups, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has agreed to allow more oversight of discharges from the Piney Point phosphate facility.
The settlement agreement also establishes enforceable limits on pollution discharged into Tampa Bay and provides for taxpayer funding to monitor Piney Point’s impacts on Tampa Bay’s water quality.
“The Piney Point phosphogypsum stack is a mountainous heap of toxic waste topped by an impoundment of hundreds of millions of gallons of process wastewater, stormwater and tons of dredged spoil from Port Manatee,” according to a press release from the plaintiffs, The Center for Biological Diversity, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, ManaSota-88 and Our Children’s Earth Foundation.
Three years ago, after discovering a leak in the facility’s reservoir liner, regulators ordered the discharge of 215 million gallons of wastewater from the gypsum stack into Tampa Bay to avert a collapse and flooding.
“During the 2021 wastewater release, Tampa Bay received more nitrogen – nearly 200 tons – than it usually receives from all other sources in an entire year. The red tides that have plagued Florida are fueled by nitrogen,” according to the press release. “Following the release, Tampa Bay experienced a deadly red tide that killed more than 600 tons of marine life in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.”
After the spill, the owner of the site, HRK Holdings LLC, filed bankruptcy and proceedings began to permanently remove the wastewater from the facility and close it. Treated wastewater from the site is currently being pumped into a deep well in eastern Manatee County.
The conservation groups requested that U.S. District Court Judge William Jung hold HRK responsible for violating the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into Tampa Bay without a lawfully issued permit.
“The settlement establishes a new standard of transparency for the water quality exiting the plant, a crucial step in safeguarding the well-being of our community,” Suncoast Waterkeeper Executive Director Dr. Abbey Tyrna said. “Additionally, it imposes critical restrictions on key pollutants, ensuring a more sustainable and healthier future for our bay.”
“The Piney Point disaster shook the Tampa Bay community to its core. It wasn’t too long ago that shorelines once teeming with life were littered with all kinds of dead fish for months. If you had previously found it swimming in Tampa Bay, it was likely dead after Piney Point,” said Justin Tramble, executive director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper. “This brings some closure to the past and shifts the focus to making sure mechanisms are in place to prevent even more tragedy in the future.”
The wastewater discharged in 2021 into Tampa Bay continues to spread throughout the estuary and into Sarasota Bay, according to the press release.
“The gyp stacks at Piney Point represent the true legacy the phosphate industry will leave behind in Florida – perpetual spending of taxpayer monies and risks to the public’s health and the environment,” said Glenn Compton, chairman of ManaSota-88 Inc. “There is no economically feasible or environmentally sound way to close an abandoned phosphogypsum stack.”
“A strong, enforceable Clean Water Act permit for Tampa Bay’s most problematic polluter is long overdue,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It shouldn’t have taken a disastrous pollution event and legal action to prompt our state regulators to do their job, but we’re hopeful this permit is a step toward eliminating the looming threat this site has posed for decades.”
