Tag: Piney Point

Piney Point-algae link explored

Written by Cindy Lane on June 14, 2021. Posted in Algae, Featured, Outdoors.

TAMPA BAY – The discharge of 215 million gallons of polluted water from Piney Point into Tampa Bay in March and April probably exacerbated the natural growth of toxic algae, bay managers say.

Contrary to researchers at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, officials at the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program agree there is a link between the nutrients in the discharged water and current algae blooms.

The water was intentionally released from March 30 to April 9 to prevent the collapse of a compromised gypsum stack that held a wastewater retention pond at the top. A total collapse could have resulted in a worse spill that threatened to flood nearby homes and businesses, which were evacuated during the event.

Since then, multiple agencies testing local waters have reported blooms of red tide algae and of lyngbya, a type of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. Other finds include trichodesmium, another type of cyanobacteria, and brown algae. Red tide produces a brevetoxin, while blue-green algae produces a cyanotoxin; both toxins can be dangerous to people and marine life, and both algae species feed on the phosphorus and nitrogen in the discharged water.

Anna Maria Sound is in dire condition, according to Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth, one of many local residents who are sounding the alarm.

“I have never in 58 years seen it this sick,” she said. “There is no life.”

Fishing guides have long frequented Tampa Bay waters between the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Port Manatee, where the discharge occurred, said Rusty Chinnis, The Sun’s outdoor columnist.

“There was never red tide there, and now there is,” he said. “I believe it’s a smoking gun.”

Lyngbya is not a new occurrence locally, but has been worsened by the Piney Point spill, he said.

“Did the Piney Point spills cause the lyngbya blooms or red tide problems we’re seeing? No. But are the nutrients from those discharges likely making it worse? Yes,” said Dr. David Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

“Piney Point added about 200 tons of nitrogen and about 100 tons of phosphorus to our local waters,” he said. “We don’t know where it all went, but it appears that a substantial amount of that nitrogen could have ended up in the macroalgae we are now seeing throughout Anna Maria Sound.”

Algae blooms have been appearing and shifting in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico since shortly after the Piney Point discharge, according to Ed Sherwood, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

“I suspect that these different blooms are capitalizing on the 200+ tons of nitrogen circulating in Tampa Bay, upper Sarasota Bay and the nearshore Gulf beaches stemming from the original discharge event,” he said. “That is, the nutrients are now cycling though the bay’s ecology and the latest red tide and lyngbya blooms are a manifestation of more nutrients being available in these waters in comparison to a ‘normal’ dry season.”

Dr. Kristen Buck, chemical oceanographer at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, disagrees.

“At this point we simply do not have data to support a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the Piney Point discharge and the occurrence of the red tide, which is of course being detected at several sites within Tampa Bay but also along parts of the Gulf coast,” she said. “Nutrient chemistry in seawater is a complex issue, and this is certainly true for Tampa Bay. Red tides are also a complex phenomenon.”

As water quality decreases, the spotlight is on responsibility for the damage.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has advised the owners of Piney Point, HRK Holdings LLC, that the state’s emergency order regarding the incident has expired and that “the company is expected to meet its legal responsibilities as site owner and operator to manage the site to ensure the integrity of the stack system and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public and the environment. DEP remains committed to its stringent regulatory oversight of the facility and to holding HRK accountable for the recent events at the site through all possible legal means.”

HRK filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011 after an accidental spill of wastewater from Piney Point into Tampa Bay.

Mats of algae clog marina, affect business

Written by Cindy Lane on May 24, 2021. Posted in Algae, Featured, Outdoors.

TAMPA BAY – When the thick, slimy algae known as lyngbya gets into a boat motor, the fishing trip, dolphin tour, or sunset cruise is over.

A local tour boat operator fears it may not only stifle business but suffocate seagrass and even marine life if something isn’t done about it.

Captain Ben Webb, of AMI Dolphin Tours, helped coordinate a cleanup today of the Waterline Marina in Holmes Beach at the marina’s expense. High-pressure water from a hose pushed mats of algae against a seawall, where it was vacuumed into a tanker truck for disposal.

It’s not easy to talk about the smelly mess.

“It’s kind of a catch-22,” Webb said. “If we tell everybody about it, then our businesses drop, but if we don’t tell everybody about it, all of our seagrasses, everything’s gonna die.”

Growing mats of lyngbya can cover large areas and be several feet deep, impeding navigation and recreation, smothering submerged plants and clogging water intakes, according to the University of Florida Institute for Food and Agricultural Science.

“What a pain. It gets into my motor and if I’m not careful, I could overheat and burn up my motor,” said Capt. Kim Ibasfalean, of Capt. Kim’s Charters in Bradenton Beach, where the algae clogged canals last week.

It’s also a health threat. Lyngbya can emit cyanotoxins that can cause people hay fever-like symptoms, skin rashes, respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, and, if consumed, liver and kidney damage, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Some worry that the widespread bloom of lyngbya, a type of blue-green algae that appears brown, could be related to the April release of 215 million gallons of polluted water into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee from one of the closed Piney Point phosphate plant’s retention ponds. The emergency release prevented even more wastewater from being spilled from a pond built on top of a gypsum stack that had begun to crumble. The water contained the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen. Lyngbya feeds on those nutrients.

Nutrients going into the water from various sources “are definitely the reason we have it,” Webb said.

Since the discharge, fewer dolphins are using the waters near Port Manatee and are congregating more than two miles away from the discharge site, according to the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program at Mote Marine. The program has been monitoring the dolphin community near Port Manatee for impacts from the discharge.

“In the dolphin business, we take people out every day to see these dolphins,” Webb said. “If all this seagrass goes away, what happens then is these dolphins that have been here for years and years and tens of hundreds of years are gonna move on to find better places to feed. We’re so fortunate to have what we do here but this grass is going to die.”

Scientists taking water samples to monitor the effects of the Piney Point discharge said today that there is no known connection between the nutrients in the release and any algae blooms.

Red tide is the more pressing threat, particularly in late summer and early fall, according to oceanographer Dr. Robert Weisberg, with the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg.

“It’s a little too early now to prognosticate about what’s going to happen then,” he said.

Meanwhile, water monitoring continues.

No cyanotoxins – the neurotoxins that are produced by blue-green algae – were detected in the water samples taken in Tampa Bay on May 18, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Results taken from samples on May 20 are pending.

Large-scale removal of lyngbya is difficult, partly because of the potential for damage to seagrass and mangroves in some areas, and partly due to the volume of the algae and its mobility due to winds and tides, according to Damon Moore, with the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department. The department is tracking a lyngbya bloom at Robinson Preserve in west Bradenton.

“It is not feasible to remove the extraordinary biomass of lyngbya during these bloom events on a bay-wide scale,” he wrote to county commissioners earlier this month.

“It is highly probable that even if extensive resources were expended on physical removal of algae mats… that would not be enough to prevent negative consequences like putrid smell and fish kills because most of the material cannot realistically be removed from the water,” he wrote. “The scale at which removal would have to occur in such a large and open system is not likely feasible and is cost-prohibitive. Focus should be placed on blocking floating mats entering areas where that is feasible and cleaning it from heavily used areas (i.e. beaches) where mechanical removal is feasible without causing additional natural resource damages.”

Captain Webb issued a dire assessment.

“Everything in this water is dying,” Webb said, following his day of cleaning algae-choked canals. “And we just can’t have that here. It’s just time for the business owners to step up and say this has to stop.”

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Piney Point spill leads to lawsuit

Piney Point pollution spreading, affecting dolphins

Piney Point spill leads to lawsuit

Written by Cindy Lane on May 18, 2021. Posted in Environment, Featured, Outdoors.

TAMPA BAY – Five conservation groups issued a notice today saying they intend to file a federal lawsuit over the intentional discharge of “hundreds of tons of pollutants into Tampa Bay” earlier this year.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, ManaSota-88 and Our Children’s Earth Foundation announced a forthcoming lawsuit against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Manatee County Port Authority and HRK Holdings, the owner of Piney Point, for violations of the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Endangered Species Act.

They claim the defendants are liable for “endangering the public and harming marine ecosystems and endangered species” by failing to maintain the gyp stacks and the waste storage ponds built into them at the closed Piney Point phosphate plant in Palmetto.

In a Notice of Intent to Sue, the conservation groups note that protected marine species including loggerhead sea turtles and manatees make their home in waters that are currently affected by the plume of pollution spreading from Piney Point.

After a leak in a gyp stack was discovered on March 26, officials ordered the emergency evacuation of hundreds of nearby Manatee County homes and intentionally discharged 215 million gallons of water into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee to take pressure off a compromised stack, avoiding its collapse and a potentially more serious spill.

A retention pond on top of a gyp stack at Piney Point. – Submitted

The discharge ended April 9, leaving a pollutant plume containing what DEP calls “mixed sea water,” an acidic blend of saltwater and debris from a Port Manatee dredge project, stormwater runoff, rainfall and “legacy process water” – wastewater from phosphate processing that contains nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that feed toxic algae blooms.

“Phosphate companies have had over 70 years to figure out a way to dispose of the radioactive gypsum wastes in an acceptable manner; they have yet to do so,” Glenn Compton, chairman of ManaSota-88, Inc., said in a press release.

Faulting DEP for allowing the storage of dredge waste in gyp stacks that the Army Corps of Engineers warned had structural issues, and for authorizing HRK Holdings to discharge the polluted water, the conservation groups charge that “Piney Point presents an imminent and substantial danger to human health, our drinking water, the regional economy and the environment.”

“Piney Point was and still is a ticking timebomb,” Justin Bloom, Suncoast Waterkeeper founder and board member, said in a press release. “Instead of appropriately closing this toxic waste site when they had the chance, the DEP allowed the site to become even more perilous, knowing full well the risk of collapse and catastrophic contamination.”

The plume of water continues to spread, according to scientists at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, which developed a forecasting model of where the polluted water will be on any given day. On May 19, the forecast predicts it will be swirling around both ends of Anna Maria Island, into Palma Sola Bay and Terra Ceia Bay, into the Manatee River, around both sides of St. Petersburg Beach, into Tampa Bay and up the Little Manatee River.

Red tide

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that low concentrations of red tide were detected at the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria and in Sarasota Bay at the Longboat Pass boat ramp in Bradenton Beach last week.

Red tide produces a neurotoxin called brevetoxin that can cause respiratory irritation, coughing, and more serious illness for people with severe or chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema or COPD, according to the Florida Department of Health. It can also cause fish kills and poison shellfish, making it unfit for human consumption.

If the plume of nutrient-rich water from the Piney Point discharge reaches the red tide, “… it’s like adding gasoline to a fire,” Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko said.

Blue-green algae

DEP is monitoring area waters for blooms of blue-green algae. No cyanotoxins – the neurotoxins that are produced by blue-green algae – were detected in May 11 water samples. Results taken from samples on May 13 are pending.

However, widespread blooms of the blue-green algae Lyngbya have been reported in Anna Maria Island waters and at Robinson Preserve, the Intracoastal Waterway, Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay, according to a report by Manatee County environmental scientists distributed to county commissioners by Acting County Administrator Scott Hopes earlier this month.

Contact with Lyngbya can result in itching, burning, pain, rash, blisters and cell death, resulting in loss of superficial layers of the skin, according to the report. Airborne toxins from the algae can cause eye and respiratory irritation. Excessive growth of Lyngbya can result in damage to seagrass beds and oyster bars, foul odors, oxygen depletion in the water and fish kills.

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Piney Point pollution spreading, affecting dolphins

Piney Point wastewater spreading

Blue-green algae bloom clogging bays, ICW

Piney Point pollution spreading, affecting dolphins

Written by Cindy Lane on May 17, 2021. Posted in Environment, Outdoors.

TAMPA BAY – The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program at Mote Marine is monitoring the dolphin community near Port Manatee for impacts from the April discharge of 215 million gallons of polluted water from the Piney Point phosphate plant into Tampa Bay last month.

The water was released from one of the closed plant’s gyp stack retention ponds to take pressure off the compromised stack, avoiding its collapse and a potentially worse spill of its contents. It is an acidic blend of saltwater and debris from a Port Manatee dredge project, stormwater runoff, rainfall and “legacy process water” – wastewater from phosphate processing that contains nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which feed toxic algae blooms.

The plant is in an environmentally sensitive area, near aquatic preserves at Bishop Harbor and Terra Ceia Bay.

Since April 5, four days before the discharge ended, scientists have conducted photographic identification surveys to determine which resident dolphins are being exposed to the highest concentrations of discharged waters, whether they are moving away from the discharges and whether they are having respiratory issues, exhibiting abnormal behavior or developing unusual skin conditions.

Preliminary indications are that fewer dolphins are using the waters near Port Manatee and are mostly congregating more than two miles away from the discharge site. Scientists have identified two dolphins known to the program since 1990, and another first identified in 2009.

The program, which works with the Chicago Zoological Society, has been studying the dolphin communities along Florida’s central and southwest coast since 1970.

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Lyngbya bloom clogging bays, ICW

Red tide detected in Manatee County

Blue-green algae bloom clogging bays, ICW

Written by Cindy Lane on May 9, 2021. Posted in Algae, Environment, Outdoors.

Nutrients and warming temperatures are feeding a bloom of blue-green algae called Lyngbya in area waters, according to scientists with Manatee County.

As has been the case over the last two years, Lyngbya is accumulating in the waters of Robinson Preserve and in the Intracoastal Waterway, Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay, according to a report by county environmental scientists distributed to county commissioners by Acting County Administrator Scott Hopes last week.

Excessive Lyngbya, a cyanobacterium, is common locally when warm temperatures combine with nutrient-rich waters to form mats, according to the report.

The nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen were contained in the 215 million gallons of polluted water released into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee last month from one of the closed Piney Point phosphate plant’s gyp stack retention ponds. An accidental leak detected on March 26 led to the intentional discharge that ended April 9 and kept the stack from collapsing.

Excessive growth of lyngbya can result in damage to seagrass beds and oyster bars, foul odors, oxygen depletion in the water and fish kills. It also can cause harmful algal blooms such as red tide, also associated with detrimental human health effects. Low levels of red tide were reported last week in Manatee County by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The mats are formed when naturally-occurring Lyngbya on the bay bottom is exposed to increased temperatures, sunlight and nutrients, causing rapid growth, according to the report. Longer days and clear water conditions cause Lyngbya to rapidly produce oxygen, causing bubbles to form and become embedded in its filaments, which makes the algae float to the surface to be carried by tides and winds, sometimes forming mats. Accumulations often increase along shorelines, like Robinson Preserve.

“It is not feasible to remove the extraordinary biomass of Lyngbya during these bloom events on a bay-wide scale,” the report states. “The scale at which removal would have to occur in such a large and open system is not likely feasible and cost prohibitive.”

No cyanotoxins – the neurotoxins produced by blue-green algae – were detected in water samples taken in Tampa Bay on May 4 in response to last month’s Piney Point discharge, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Results taken from samples on May 6 are pending.

Exposure to cyanotoxins can cause hay fever-like symptoms, skin rashes, respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, and, if consumed, liver and kidney damage, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

County moving forward with Piney Point deep injection well

County approves Piney Point deep injection well contractor

Written by Joe Hendricks on April 26, 2021. Posted in Community News, Featured, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners have approved a construction agreement for a deep injection well as part of the efforts to permanently close the Piney Point property.

Located in Palmetto, near Port Manatee, the Piney Point property served as a phosphate processing plant from 1966 to 1999. Current owner HRK Holdings bought the vacated property in 2006.

After a leak was detected in one of the plant’s gyp stack retention ponds last month, 215 million gallons of polluted water were released into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee to prevent an accidental spill of even more wastewater.

County commissioners voted 6-1 on Tuesday, April 20 in support of a construction agreement with Youngquist Brothers Inc. for an injection well to hold the remaining contaminated water at a total cost not to exceed $9.35 million. Commissioner Reggie Bellamy opposed the agreement.

On April 6, the county commission authorized acting County Administrator Scott Hopes to secure the services of the Tampa-based ASRus firm to complete the design, permitting and construction-phase services for an underground deep injection well on county-owned property, and to secure a qualified party to construct the new well.

The construction agreement calls for one, 11.75-inch “nominal diameter Class I injection well” with a total depth of up to 3,500 feet. The well will be completed with a final carbon steel outer casing cemented to land surface, with a fiberglass reinforced plastic inner casing to land surface. Both the inner and outer casings will extend to the same approximate depth of 1,950 feet. The agreement also calls for one, six-inch nominal diameter dual zone monitoring well with an anticipated depth of about 950 feet.

According to a summary document included in the meeting packet, “Youngquist Brothers, as recommended by ASRus, is the appropriately qualified party to construct the well. The construction cost is $8.5 million; however, a 10% contingency is incorporated to account for any unforeseen circumstances and shall be used with the approval of the county. The substantial completion time is 330 calendar days from the issuance of the Notice to Proceed Construction, which allows for the time necessary to obtain the FDEP permit.”

The Piney Point wastewater will be treated before it’s discharged into the earth.

“We manage three deep wells right now. We have three and Tropicana has one. I’ve never gotten a complaint or concern about those three deep wells,” Commissioner Carol Whitmore said.

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said the deep well at the county’s 66th Street utilities plant in Bradenton can handle 15 million gallons of wastewater per day.

Drinking water concerns

Skye Gundy provided the commissioners with the perspective of a resident who lives near the Piney Point property.

“I’m here to talk about the ongoing disaster at Piney Point. I am one of the closest residents to the actual breach and leak. I am a lifelong community member of Manatee County, born and raised. After I came home from the University of Florida, I came home to serve the community that raised me. I bought my own slice of heaven. I own three acres of paradise – everything we love about Manatee County right there on three acres. This disaster has broken that tranquility and caused me to be angry and disillusioned at the governing bodies that are supposed to protect me, and quite anxious.”

Grundy also addressed the future safety of those impacted residents and property owners.

“I have three children and no one has tested my well water – or anybody on my street, or anybody in my community. We pay for private well testing and for the tests that we’ll have to do now it will be in the thousands of dollars; and if you’ve got a water treatment system, it will be thousands of dollars. I’m urging you to consider giving us public water or to help pay for our private water testing,” Grundy said.

District 1 Commissioner James Satcher later made a motion for the county to provide emergency well testing for residents living within a certain distance of the Piney Point property.

“We’re not the ones living there drinking that water. If we were, we’d want to get it tested. They didn’t create this issue,” he said.

Hopes said well testing is the responsibility of the Department of Health and he offered to coordinate those efforts with that state agency before spending county resources.

Van Ostenbridge suggested Satcher’s motion be amended as follows: “The board directs the county administrator to expedite the coordination of well testing near Piney Point.”

The amended motion passed by a 7-0 vote.

Satcher also shared his views on the future of phosphate mining in Manatee County.

“I understand the company that put this stack there is out of business, but if any company is doing anything similar to this, we’re going to have to change the rules and put our foot down. I don’t plan on voting for any more permits. I understand people need to eat and farmers need fertilizer, but not at the cost of our citizens; not at the cost of our bays; not at the cost of our beaches. That doesn’t cut it any longer,” he said.

Regarding the Piney Point property, Van Ostenbridge noted: “It was never a mine. It was a phosphorus processing plant that started back in the 60s. The company went bankrupt and here we are. There are no other processing plants in Manatee County.”

County Attorney Bill Clague provided additional clarification and said, “Our local mining ordinance prohibits the construction of any new gyp (phosphogypsum) stacks or phosphorus plants in Manatee County. It has since 2004. Our local regulations do not allow them to ever build one of these again in Manatee County. This is the only one in Manatee County. The other mountains that you see on mines are clay settling areas, they’re not gyp. Are they environmentally great? No, but they’re not the same level of concern as a gyp stack.”

According to the Manatee County website, “There are currently over 17,000 acres of land approved for phosphate mining in Manatee County. Only one company is actively mining phosphate in Manatee County: Mosaic Fertilizer.”

Before the discussion ended, Satcher made another motion proposing access to county water service be extended to those who live near Piney Point who are not currently serviced by county water. This prompted a discussion on the significant costs that the county and the impacted property owners would incur.

As an alternative, Commission Chair Vanessa Baugh suggested the following future action: “We are asking public utilities to give us a report on that particular area by Piney Point – the residences and business there who are on well and what it might take to change that, if possible.”

Satcher accepted Baugh’s suggestion. The commission also extended its local state of emergency declaration regarding Piney Point.

Piney Point wastewater spreading

Written by Cindy Lane on April 26, 2021. Posted in Environment, Featured, Outdoors.

UPDATED April 26, 2021 at 3:52 p.m. – PALMETTO – About half the wastewater in a leaking retention pond built into a gyp stack at the closed Piney Point phosphate plant has been pumped into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee, and the 215 million gallons are spreading.

Officials initiated the controlled emergency discharge in March to take pressure off the compromised gyp stack and avoid an accidental spill of even more of its contents after a leak was detected on March 26.

The discharge ended April 9, leaving a pollutant plume containing what the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) calls “mixed sea water.” The acidic blend of saltwater and debris from a Port Manatee dredge project, stormwater runoff and rainfall also contains “legacy process water” – wastewater from phosphate processing that carries nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that can feed toxic red tide algae blooms.

Sensitive environmental areas in Tampa Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Manatee River, the Little Manatee River, Bishop Harbor and Terra Ceia Bay are impacted so far, according to Dr. Robert H. Weisberg, distinguished professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg.

“We see obvious visible impacts of plant growth. You see water that looks rather brown, instead of water that’s normally green,” he said in a video conference, adding that it’s likely to adversely affect fish and marine plants.

A team of scientists is tracking where the plume will go, how it dilutes over time and what its effects will be, he said.

The wastewater is “sloshing back and forth” with the tides, currents and winds, causing the plume to disperse more widely, he said.

Dilution is a slow process, Weisberg said, estimating that there will be low concentrations in Tampa Bay and the Gulf as it disperses over the coming months.

The process is likely to continue until strong winds flush it out of the bay, he added.

“This time of year, we really don’t get those big (wind) events that will flush the system out, so it’s going to be with us for a while,” he said. “At least so far, we don’t see any indication of anything toxic. But when you feed a lot of nutrients, plant growth takes off, just like in your garden.”

Multiple educational institutions, governmental agencies and environmental organizations are collecting water, fish, seagrass and other samples to assess acidity, oxygen, salinity, temperature, carbon, bacteria, phytoplankton, nutrients and trace metals in the wake of the discharge. Results will not be immediate.

Water quality reports

Red tide has been detected in Manatee County in low concentrations for the first time since the Piney Point disaster.

Red tide-related respiratory irritation was reported in Manatee County, and fish kills were reported in Sarasota County to the south, according to the most recent Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission weekly report.

Environmental officials say that the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen, which feed toxic red tide algae blooms, were present in the 215 million gallons of polluted water discharged into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee from one of the inactive Piney Point phosphate plant’s retention ponds, built into a gypsum stack.

The DEP reports that the red tide is “not thought to be a direct result of the Piney Point discharges, however, elevated nutrients have the potential to exacerbate these algal blooms, and increased sampling is ongoing.”

Low concentrations of red tide were found at Mead Point (Perico Island) in lower Tampa Bay, and very low concentrations were detected at the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria, also in lower Tampa Bay, School Key (Key Royale), and the Longboat Pass boat ramp in Sarasota Bay.

Red tide produces a neurotoxin called brevetoxin that can cause respiratory irritation, coughing, and more serious illness for people with severe or chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema or COPD, according to the Florida Department of Health. Health officials recommend that people experiencing symptoms stay away from the water, go inside to an air-conditioned space, or wear masks, especially during onshore winds.

Consuming shellfish exposed to red tide can cause neurotoxic shellfish poisoning.

Health officials also warn against swimming near dead fish, and advise keeping pets away from dead fish and sea foam, which can contain high concentrations of algae. Pets are not allowed on Anna Maria Island’s beaches, but are allowed on the Palma Sola Causeway on Manatee Avenue leading to the Island.

If the plume of wastewater from the Piney Point discharge reaches the red tide in Sarasota, “… it’s like adding gasoline to a fire,” Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko said.

Blue-green algae was detected in 17 water samples taken in Tampa Bay (indicated by blue dots) from April 8-21 in response to the recent release of polluted water from Piney Point, according to the DEP’s latest blue-green algae report.

Analysis has revealed trace levels of cyanotoxins, neurotoxins that are produced by blue-green algae.

The closest sample to Anna Maria Island was taken northwest of Robinson Preserve in Palmetto. Bloom conditions continue to be monitored.

– Joe Hendricks contributed to this report

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Governor orders permanent closure of Piney Point

Governor orders permanent closure of Piney Point

Written by Joe Hendricks on April 19, 2021. Posted in Community News, Featured, Manatee County.

PALMETTO – State leaders are committing financial resources for the ongoing Piney Point response efforts and the implementation of a long-term plan to permanently close the property.

The Piney Point property is owned by HRK Holdings. The company purchased the property in 2006. A phosphate production facility operated on that site from 1966 to 1999.

On Tuesday, April 13, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein participated in a press conference at the Piney Point property. State Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Manatee), State Rep. Will Robinson (R-Manatee), acting Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes and all seven county commissioners attended the press conference but did not address the media.

Regarding the initial state response that included DEP, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida National Guard, DeSantis noted the controlled discharge of containment stack water into Tampa Bay was stopped within seven days.

The governor then addressed his plans moving forward.

“We want this to be the last chapter of the Piney Point story. Today, I’m directing the Department of Environmental Protection to create a plan to close Piney Point. I’ve requested that DEP’s team of engineers and scientists develop plans for the permanent closure of this site, including identifying necessary resources to do so. This will ensure the state is moving forward with a plausible scientific plan toward closure,” DeSantis said.

“I’m redirecting $15.4 million from existing appropriations at DEP to use innovative technologies to pre-treat water at the site for nutrients so that in the event that further controlled discharges are needed, any potential adverse environmental impacts such as algae blooms and fish kills are mitigated,” DeSantis said.

“I’m further directing DEP to fully investigate the incidents here at Piney Point to take any and all legal actions to ensure we hold HRK and the other actors fully accountable,” the governor said.

Speaking next, Simpson addressed the state Legislature’s efforts.

“This year we’re going to appropriate $100 million for the initial funding. By the end of the year, we hope to get a full closure plan with a fully-funded amount that may be required; and then come back next year and have a fully-funded plan,” he said.

DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein also spoke about holding HRK Holdings responsible for the environmental and economic impacts caused by the breach of the Piney Point containment stack.

“We have a team of attorneys back at Tallahassee that is making sure they take advantage of all the information we’re collecting and then put together a case to hold HRK fully accountable. We are putting every effort to hold folks accountable, regardless or not of a particular corporation’s circumstances,” he said.

After Tuesday’s press conference, Port Manatee Director of Communications Virginia Zimmermann provided The Sun with a tour of the Berth 12 area where the Piney Point water was discharged into Tampa Bay through an inland canal that helped move the discharged water into the deep water shipping channel. Zimmermann said the port remained fully operational while the Piney Point crisis played out.

According to DEP, about 215 million gallons of water containing elevated levels of nitrates and phosphates were discharged into Tampa Bay. Phosphates and nitrates are primary ingredients in fertilizer and concerns linger regarding the potential environmental impact of discharging that much nutrient-rich water into Tampa Bay.

The controlled discharge began on March 31 after a breach was identified in one of the three Piney Point phosphogypsum containment stacks. DEP refers to the breached gyp stack that resembles a small lake as the “NGS-South compartment.”

Another leak

According to DEP’s daily update on Saturday, April 17, approximately 205 million gallons remained in the NGS-South compartment and DEP was preparing to manage increased stormwater on the Piney Point property ahead of weather forecasts predicting rain and windy conditions early this week.

According to Friday’s update, members of the University of South Florida’s School of Geosciences began using bathymetric equipment that day to survey the gyp stack and further assess repairs previously made to its submerged liner.

Friday’s update noted that on Tuesday, April 13, a low-level flow was observed from the concentrated seepage area on the east wall of the gyp stack: “Dive crews immediately arrived on scene and identified a small detachment underneath the plate placed over the liner seam separation. At this time, the low-level flow rate appears to be consistent and repair efforts continue.”

Environmental concerns

On Saturday, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko provided his latest insights on the potential environmental impacts.

“We haven’t had discharges in about a week, but it looks like we’ve got a 10-15 square mile algae bloom centered around Piney Point. It’s pretty much in the same location it was for the past week,” he said.

Tomasko noted the suspected algae bloom appears on the daily satellite imagery provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He said an algae bloom does not necessarily appear as a large mass of material that can be seen on the water’s surface.

“It’s floating microscopic plants,” he said.

Sharing his own personal observations, Tomasko said, “The water does not look the way it normally does this time of year. The water this time of year is usually blue. It looks kind of brownish to me. In that area around Piney Point, people have been noting the water does not look clear. It looks brownish-green. It looks like there’s elevated phytoplankton and this week we’re going to find out if there’s a more macro-algae out there.”

Tomasko said members of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and other volunteers will be out on the water in several locations conducting surveys of the algae, and also of the seagrass the grows on the bottom of the surveyed bodies of water.

“We’ve got baseline conditions before any of the impact was felt and this coming week we’re going to go see if they’ve changed,” he said. “No one really knows what’s going to happen, but it’s hard to believe there wouldn’t be some sort of impact with all the nutrients put into the water.”

Tomasko’s overall concerns also include the presence of red tide (Karenia brevis) in the area.

“We’ve got red tide in Sarasota. These are low to moderate levels. Red tide is not caused by humans but when it comes into water enriched by human activity that’s a real concern. If this plume lingers around and the red tide encounters it, it’s like adding gasoline to a fire,” Tomasko said.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission red tide current status map, medium levels of Karenia brevis cells (red tide) were measured at Siesta Beach in Sarasota on April 12. That same day, low levels of Karenia brevis cells were detected at the New Pass Dock in Sarasota Bay and at Lido Pass.

An April 12 water sample taken near the Rod and Reel Pier in Anna Maria indicated Karenia brevis cells were not present or were present only at minimal background levels.

The north end of Anna Maria Island is approximately 15 miles from Port Manatee.

Previous seagrass losses

Tomasko also lamented the previous loss of seagrass that occurred in Sarasota Bay prior to the Piney Point crisis.

“We just had our numbers released Friday about the seagrass change. We’re down 18%. We lost more than 2,000 acres of seagrass in the northern part of Sarasota Bay between 2018 and 2020 in the area around Long Bar Pointe. North and south of Long Bar Pointe we’re down 18%, after a 5% loss between 2016 and 2018,” he said.

Tomasko was asked why so much seagrass has been lost near Long Bar Pointe.

“We think it’s because of two red tides in 2016 and 2017. Then you had Hurricane Irma in 2017 and a real strong red tide from 2018 going into 2019. The red tide shuts off the photosynthesis. The seagrass expires because the water is warm and there’s not enough light,” he said.

“The last thing we need is another red tide like we had in 2018-2019. We’re already in a stressed position and now we’ve got red tide to the south and Piney Point to the north. The last thing we need is for people to think the crisis is past. We’re nowhere near close to knowing what the effects are going to be,” he added.

Holmes Beach declaration

On Tuesday, April 13, the Holmes Beach City Commission adopted by city resolution a declaration of a local state of emergency that serves as the city’s preemptive response to the potential environmental and economic impacts of the Piney Point discharge.

“The city commission has determined that the release of contaminated water from the Piney Point facility poses an immediate and real threat to the residents and businesses of the city of Holmes Beach. The city commission supports the allocation of federal and state funds to develop and implement a plan that will eliminate any future threat that the Piney Point facility poses to Tampa Bay and surrounding waters,” the resolution states.

The Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach city commissions declared similar declarations of emergency on April 8.

Related coverage

Piney Point wastewater spreading

Piney Point crisis averted; environmental concerns grow

Written by Joe Hendricks on April 12, 2021. Posted in Community News.

PALMETTO – The wastewater discharge into Tampa Bay from a breached Piney Point retention pond near Port Manatee stopped Friday, April 9, but concerns are growing regarding the potential environmental impacts to Tampa Bay and other area waterways.

“We’re already seeing signs of an algae bloom in that area, captured through satellite imagery,” Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) Executive Director Dave Tomasko told Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth in an email last week. “There does appear to be an algae bloom about 10 square miles in size and it’s centered around Piney Point. We just don’t know where it’ll go, how big it will get and how long it will last.”

On Thursday, April 8, the Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach city commissions declared preemptive local states of emergency in anticipation of potential environmental impacts of the Piney Point discharge, which occurred less than 20 miles from Anna Maria Island. The city of Holmes Beach is expected to enact a similar declaration this week.

Last week, city, state and federal officials continued their response to the breached Piney Point phosphogypsum stack, which contains a retention pond that until recently held approximately 480 million gallons of water containing high levels of phosphorus and nitrate.

Formerly the site of a phosphate plant that first opened in 1966, Piney Point was purchased by HRK Holdings in 2006. In addition to the retention pond, the property also contains two additional compartments that contain 400 million gallons of more heavily polluted water.

The long-term plan is to treat the remaining water and build a nearby deep water injection well that in a few years will be used to inject the treated water deep into the Earth.

According to the Sunday, April 11 FDEP update on Piney Point, “Yesterday, 217 million gallons remained in the NGS-South compartment (the breached containment pond). The site received 0.6 inches of rain, thus increasing the volume in the compartment to 221 million gallons.”

According to the Saturday, April 10 update, “DEP deployed diving companies and submersible cameras that identified a seam separation on the east wall of the NGS-South. Dive operations have strategically placed a steel plate on the seam separation to temporarily repair this identified source of concentrated seepage. To date, 215 million gallons were discharged to the port.”

During a Tuesday, April 6 press conference, acting County Administrator Scott Hopes said,

“This is very much under control now. The risk has been lessened to the point that people will be able to return to their homes.”

Environmental concerns

The SBEP, Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper are among the organizations monitoring the potential environmental impacts.

“We are in the early stages of this, but it has the potential to be the worst environmental impact to our local waters in my career, which dates back to the 1980s,” SBEP’s Tomasko wrote Titsworth. “Early model runs suggest that over the next few days to weeks, the waters being discharged will make their way down along the southern shoreline of Tampa Bay and it is expected to enter into Terra Ceia Bay, the Manatee River, northern Anna Maria Sound and even Palma Sola Bay,” he wrote.

“Preliminary data from the discharges has given us nitrogen concentrations that are about 100 times as concentrated as urban stormwater runoff and about 10 times as concentrated as raw sewage. Just in the first few days, the load of nitrogen to the bay was equivalent to about 40,000 bags of fertilizer,” Tomasko wrote.

When contacted Saturday, Tomasko said the fertilizer equivalency was now closer to 70,000 bags of fertilizer.

Tomasko said he’s more concerned about other forms of algae blooms than he is about a potential red tide outbreak at this time. He said the algae blooms he’s most concerned about impact water clarity and water quality and could potentially lead to more manatee deaths and the potential loss of fishing habitats.

On April 7, the Suncoast and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper organizations issued a joint statement that in part said, “The current discharge of water is far exceeding water quality standards for the Tampa Bay Estuary and delivering excess nitrogen and phosphorus to bay waters. Both nutrients are known to fuel harmful algae blooms such as red tides. This disaster was preventable. Permit conditions were ignored, water accumulation was not addressed when state funds were available to remedy the conditions.”

FDEP updates and water quality sampling data can be found online.

State committee meeting

On Wednesday, April 7, FDEP Secretary Noah Valenstein appeared before the Florida House of Representatives’ Pandemics and Public Emergencies Committee to discuss Piney Point. He participated via web conferencing from the Emergency Operations Center in Bradenton and Hopes traveled to Tallahassee in person.

Regarding FDEP’s initial response, Valenstein said, “The department immediately set up intense monitoring for nearby freshwater bodies as well as Tampa Bay. That allowed us to have a very detailed baseline of water quality in the area to ensure that we can hold HRK fully accountable for any impact to our resources.”

In regard to holding HRK responsible, Valenstein said, “We are actively looking at our litigation options.”

When asked what lessons can be learned from the Piney Point crisis, Valenstein said, “Piney Point has a history as a legacy site of the state recognizing that it needs to come in, and that it’s the party with the funds to clean the site up. There’s always been sort of a partial clean-up, but not closure by the state. The first lesson is when you have the opportunity you need to close the site. This legislature, this department and this administration has the opportunity to make the decision to close the site fully and be done with it, as opposed to a partial closure and possible reinvention of the site with continued risk.”

Hopes shared a less optimistic view and said, “It’s unlikely a company like this has not structured themselves in a way that with Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 (bankruptcy) it’s going to be very difficult,” he said. “In the meantime, we have to be the parties that solve this problem permanently.”

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Piney Point spill may have ripple effect on tourism

Reel Time: An unfolding tragedy

County says Piney Point crisis is “under control”

Coast Lines: First, do no harm

Reel Time: The price of inaction

Additional leaks suspected at Piney Point

Piney Point spill may have ripple effect on tourism

Written by Jason Schaffer on April 12, 2021. Posted in Business, Community News, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The potential harm from the Piney Point wastewater spill could go beyond impacting water quality and wildlife to affecting tourism.

Some soon-to-be visitors from around the country are reconsidering their vacation plans due to fears brought on by the lack of solid information about the potential of a serious red tide event in the near future.

Piney Point is a closed phosphate plant in northern Manatee County with retention ponds built into gypsum stacks that contain polluted wastewater. A leak in one of these ponds was discovered last month, prompting a response from multiple state and federal agencies, including the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Officials identified a leak in a containment wall that put the structure at risk of collapsing, resulting in Gov. Ron DeSantis declaring a state of emergency and the county ordering the evacuation of more than 300 homes and businesses in the area for fear that a total collapse could cause a major flooding event.

Concerns among residents, environmental officials, and now, tourists, center around a potential red tide algae bloom. Red tide can kill marine life, cause the water to be murky and have an unpleasant odor, and pose a health threat to humans.

The Sun asked three people from three states about the Piney Point spill’s effect on their travel plans.

“We had to cancel last summer’s vacation to Anna Maria Island due to COVID. This summer we have a reservation for two weeks, and we may have to cancel it. I’m starting to think I’m bad luck for the Island,” said Darrah Gohring, of Marion, Ohio.

Gohring has been following the local and national news related to Piney Point very closely. Her family has been looking forward to what she described as “two weeks in paradise” ever since having to cancel last year. They are first-time visitors, and have already paid in advance for their rental near Bean Point.

“This probably wouldn’t be as much of an issue if it weren’t for the fact that both me and my daughter are severely asthmatic, and we really don’t want to wind up in the hospital,” Gohring said, emphasizing how excited her daughter has been over this family trip.

For now, the Gohring family is going to see if the rental owner will refund their payment. The owner doesn’t appear to be legally obligated to refund the payment, but Gohring is hoping the owner will be sympathetic to their unique situation. For now, the family will continue to follow the news, and intends to make a decision soon.

A father of two young children from Atlanta asked that we only use his first name, Clay. Along with his wife and two children, ages 2 and 5, Clay’s family vacation to the Bradenton Beach area is scheduled for June 26-July 3 and will be their first trip to the Island. Like others, Clay said the possibility of a red tide bloom due to the Piney Point spill is of serious concern to his family.

“We’ve done Panama City and some other beaches farther north, but this will be our first time to Anna Maria,” Clay said. When asked why he and his family chose AMI for this vacation, he said it was totally random. They Googled Florida beaches with white sand, clear water and a laid-back atmosphere, and Anna Maria Island kept popping up. It was enough for Clay to book with a good deal of confidence he had found the right place for his family to relax and enjoy the sun.

lay said that even though they are watching the situation closely, and may change their decision, for now, the trip is a green light and they plan to visit as scheduled. While Clay and others purchased travel insurance, it appears that as long as beaches are open and no evacuation order has been put in place, the insurance will not cover a cancellation.

Kim Reynolds, of Detroit, Mich., and her husband and college-age son and daughter are already here enjoying their vacation in Holmes Beach. The Reynolds family will be heading home Saturday, April 17.

“I feel really bad for people who have to make the tough decision of whether to risk it, and hope for the best, or possibly lose a lot of money canceling a non-refundable beach rental here on the Island. God knows it’s not cheap!” she said. “I’m a public school teacher, and we save our money all year to stay at a nice place and eat at nice restaurants when we visit Anna Maria. Suffering through the brutal Michigan winters is a little easier when the light at the end of the tunnel is a tropical paradise like this. I honestly don’t know what we would do if we were in that situation, but I have a feeling we would come regardless, and hope for the best.”

Gohring expressed a sentiment common among all three visitors – a genuine concern for local residents.

“I feel so bad for you guys; we are just coming for a couple of weeks, but you live there, this is your home,” Gohring said. “I really hope everything is ok and it’s far better than a worst-case scenario.”

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Tourism statistics

Reel Time: An unfolding tragedy

Written by Rusty Chinnis on April 12, 2021. Posted in Environment, Reel Time.

Rounding a mangrove corner into Clam Bar Bay on the edges of Tampa Bay, I had the sensation of a place remembered.

I had first visited Moses Hole on a kayak outing in 2013. But this time, something seemed oddly different, and a disquieting feeling enveloped me. It was only later that I fully appreciated that emotion.

I was surveying and documenting the conditions in an area south of Port Manatee that represents the most pristine region of Florida’s largest – and now most threatened – estuary. Days before, a legacy phosphate stack at nearby Piney Point had ruptured and a catastrophic collapse was deemed imminent. Over the past week, millions of gallons of water containing 10 times the nutrients of raw sewage had been released into Tampa Bay at the port in an attempt to avert the sudden release of 480 million gallons.

That day I saw a Tampa Bay in crisis, even before the effects of this latest failure are being felt. The shallow waters from Cockroach Bay to Robinson Preserve were covered in algae and large areas were devoid of seagrass.

In addition, and totally unexpectedly, I was stunned at acres of mangroves I observed in Miguel Bay, near Terra Ceia. A large swath of the mangrove shoreline, once over 12 feet high, had been trimmed to barely three feet high, with large dead stumps bleached by the sun from previous cuttings.

Returning home, I looked through my photographs and found an image I had taken that day in 2013. I was consumed by a feeling of sadness. What I experienced that day was disheartening, but only reinforced my resolve to expose the inaction of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in doing their mandated work to protect the public good.

The failure at Piney Point, a facility owned by HRK Inc. and overseen by the FDEP, was preventable. The state agency knew of the problems at the facility long ago but failed to address it adequately. Although this has been a disaster in the making for decades, the agency mandated to protect Tampa Bay allowed water levels to increase from a near-empty stack in 2007 to an accumulation of over 700 million gallons of water and dredged material.

FDEP failed to provide the resources needed to remove the water from the stacks at the site and knew as early as 2013 about the need to remove the water. The discharge required by the inaction far exceeds water quality standards for the Tampa Bay Estuary and is delivering excess nitrogen and phosphorus to Bay waters. Both nutrients are known to fuel harmful algae blooms such as red tides. At the current rate of wastewater discharge, nearly 500 tons of nitrogen are on track to be released in the course of about a week. This is equivalent to approximately 50,000 bags of fertilizer or 28 years of population growth in the region. This far exceeds the goals established by the FDEP to protect the public resources used for recreational and commercial activities.

In a joint press release, Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper expressed dismay that the rights of the people of Florida have been jeopardized by the failure of our state. They demand that the governor and Legislature act, holding all responsible parties accountable and establishing a statewide commission for phosphogypsum stack operations and closure. They stipulate that the commission should be composed of Waterkeepers, environmental advocates, state, federal and other stakeholders.

Additionally, they specify that the state fund the closure of all Piney Point stacks, including removing the existing water and capping the site to prevent any water containment onsite, and process the seepage water after closure to prevent degradation to Bishop Harbor and Cockroach Bay, Outstanding Florida Waters that bracket the site.

The final outcome of this latest insult to the waters that surround us and provide us our solace as well as supporting our economy won’t be felt for several weeks or months. I hope we’re not too late.

Get involved by joining and supporting the efforts of Suncoast Waterkeeper and make sure your elected officials get the message that we will hold them responsible.

County says Piney Point crisis is “under control”

Written by Joe Hendricks on April 6, 2021. Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News, Featured.

PALMETTO – County and state officials believe they now have the Piney Point crisis under control.

During today’s 4 p.m. press conference, acting County Administrator Scott Hopes said, “This has been short-lived. We have dramatically reduced the risk in a very controlled way, so that, hopefully, all of us have time to recover both physically and emotionally. I think everybody should rest assured that this is very much under control now. The risk has been lessened to the point that people will be able to return to their homes. Well water (and) drinking water is safe. The environment is being protected as much as possible.”

Manatee Public Safety Director Jake Saur said the Piney Point evacuation order has been lifted and residents and business owners and operators are now allowed to return to their homes and businesses. US-41 is open but a stretch of Buckeye Road remains closed.

According to Saur, the breached pond currently contains approximately 59 feet of water. More than 20 pumps are being used to continue siphoning approximately 33-34 million gallons a day of water from the breached containment pond continue to be pumped into Tampa Bay.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is taking frequent water quality samples at the Piney Point site, at Port Manatee and in the waters beyond the port. Water quality sample results can be found online.

Kevin Guthrie, the deputy director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said a submersible will be brought in Wednesday to survey and hopefully repair the tear or tears in the liner of the breached retention pond.

Earlier today, during the Manatee County Commission meeting, Hopes said there has been no second breach of the containment pond. He said the thermal imaging previously detected by aerial drones and thought to be another potential breach in the containment wall, proved to be plant material rather than water seeping through a tear into the containment wall. Hopes said approximately 300 million gallons of water remained in the breached containment pond as of this morning.

During today’s meeting, county commissioners unanimously approved using deep well injection to remove any remaining water from the breached pond and also from the more polluted water contained in two additional Piney Point retention ponds that have not been breached. According to County Commission Chairwoman Vanessa Baugh, the water will be treated to the county’s standards before it is injected deep into the ground using a deep injection well to be located on a nearby county-owned property.

FDEP Secretary Noah Valenstein said the permitting, engineering and design work for a deep injection well typically takes two to three years before the actual injection process begins.

State and federal funds are expected to be provided to cover or help cover the significant cost of the deep well injection process.

In closing Hopes said he did not anticipate the county holding any additional press conferences on the Piney Point situation.

FDEP and FDEM officials and are expected to remain at the Piney Point site for the foreseeable future.

Related coverage

Second breach found at Piney Point

Additional leaks suspected at Piney Point

Coast Lines: First, do no harm

Written by Cindy Lane on April 5, 2021. Posted in Coast Lines, Outdoors.

A recent visit to the Mulberry Phosphate Museum was fascinating, with its finds of prehistoric giant ground sloths, mammoths, sharks, manatees and crocodiles, and even a 3000-year-old dugout canoe, all unearthed by equipment used in phosphate mining.

Wall murals show how mining companies in Florida restore the land after the mines are exhausted, even to the point of hosting threatened Florida scrub jays and gopher tortoises.

Missing from the diorama is what happens when it all goes wrong.

Lining gypsum stacks with material that wasn’t supposed to deteriorate and filling them with wastewater from the Piney Point phosphate mine never sounded like the best idea, but it likely was the most cost-effective idea.

Now that there’s a breach, and the ongoing discharge of hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater into local waters to avert a worse breach, we’re faced with the prospect of an environmental disaster unseen since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began in April 2010.

Why can’t the wastewater be pumped into containers at Port Manatee instead of into our precious, beautiful and interconnected waterways, where nitrogen and phosphorus from the wastewater is undoubtedly going to feed red tide, and where other toxins may kill fish even before the red tide gets them?

Containers could be stored indefinitely, or transported to a treatment plant, which, by the way, could have been mandated on site when the mine was permitted.

Surely there is emergency money for such a solution in the state’s budget, if not the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s budget.

If state leaders are not able to come up with a better solution to this crisis than dumping phosphate mining wastewater into the pristine waters that attract our visitors, why continue to spend money on advertising for tourists?

Especially this time of year – when it’s spring, and we’re just peeking out from the pandemic – it’s heartbreaking to realize that in the coming weeks, we may see vacations ruined by red tide, fish kills and respiratory symptoms, and maybe things even worse than red tide. We may see vacation rental cancellations and businesses floundering, just when they’re about to regain normalcy from the pandemic.

Thanks to a lack of responsibility, wisdom, foresight and possibly even concern among government officials, visitors and residents will likely be avoiding the beaches this summer – the one place where we almost felt comfortable during the year of the coronavirus.

To the families evacuated from their homes just before Easter Sunday, to the people who have spent decades volunteering to plant seagrasses and count scallops and create oyster beds in area waters, to those who make their livings on the water, to the marine life, and to all the people of Tampa Bay, mine owners and state officials owe more than mitigation and an apology.

They must choose a solution to this crisis that does no further harm.

Reel Time: The price of inaction

Written by Rusty Chinnis on April 5, 2021. Posted in Outdoors, Reel Time.

On Monday, March 26, the latest and hopefully final chapter unfolded in a sordid novel with no redeeming chapters and a far less-than-happy ending. The saga began in the 1960s when the Borden Corporation (yes, the cow) was given a permit by Manatee County to build a processing facility at Piney Point to turn phosphate into fertilizer. In the early 70s, the company went into bankruptcy and literally walked away from the property, leaving the tailings from the processing in giant, toxic mounds on the edges of Tampa Bay. The history of the site is one of mistakes and missteps that would, and probably will, one day fill a novel on the price of inaction.

The leaking gyp stack and pond at Piney Point. – Rusty Chinnis | Sun

Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper are organizations that I’ve highlighted in this column over the past few years. Both are playing a central role in trying to understand the underlying issues so that they can disseminate current and reliable information to the public.

As of Sunday, April 4, we were being told that the collapse of the compromised gypsum stack was no longer imminent, although the area had been evacuated. Meanwhile, untreated, polluted water from the site is being pumped into Tampa Bay at the rate of 22,000 gallons a minute. Water from the breach in the stack, along with water from additional pumps that are being flown in, is being drained from the stack. That water will most likely be carried into Bishop Harbor to the west and Cockroach Bay to the east. Both are designated as Outstanding Florida Waters.

It’s hard to imagine anything positive emerging from this ecological nightmare other than, hopefully, a wake-up call to the public that this is what happens when politicians and public officials don’t follow their mandate to work for the public good. That realization seems to be on the lips of most everyone I talk to, but in truth, this is a shared responsibility. We the citizens are also responsible to hold our elected officials accountable to do the work we elected them to do. This is an example of what can happen when citizens don’t pay attention and let others make decisions on their behalf.

This will be an unfolding story of the incalculable damage that results from greed, inaction, lack of accountability and irresponsible actions by parties on all levels from the county to the highest offices in Florida and beyond. Even now we’re hearing statements claiming the water “meets industry standards, outside of ammonia, nitrate and phosphorus levels,” which is to say, of course, that it doesn’t meet industry standards. Spin isn’t going to play this time. Dave Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, told me on April 4 that he’s working with Ed Sherwood, director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, to calculate loads from the release and they are, in fact, “much worse than I was led to believe.” Both Tampa Bay Waterkeeper and Suncoast Waterkeeper are working to update the public with the latest updates on Facebook. Stay tuned, get involved and hold your elected officials responsible for protecting the public good. In the end, it’s the public and our natural resources that pay the price of inaction.

Additional leaks suspected at Piney Point

Written by Joe Hendricks on April 5, 2021. Posted in Featured.

Updated Monday, April 5 at 5:45 p.m. – PALMETTO – Two more trouble spots have been identified by an infrared drone as engineers continue to drain wastewater into Tampa Bay from a pond in a seeping phosphogypsum stack at Piney Point.

County, state and federal officials are trying to prevent a complete and potentially disastrous breach of the stack that, until pumping operations began last week, contained roughly 480 million gallons of water contaminated by phosphate fertilizer processing.

Early this morning, an infrared drone identified what could be a second breach, Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur announced at a press conference this afternoon. The first breach emerged last month when water began leaking through a pond liner and the gypsum material behind it began to crumble.

“Thermal imaging last night (Sunday, April 4) from the DEP drones identified a number of sites with one concentrated site in the northern portion of the eastern wall where the temperatures indicate there is water intrusion into the wall at that point,” Acting County Administrator Scott Hopes said.

A third area also is being monitored.

“There is an area at the top of the berm, around the middle of the eastern wall, that they recognized an extrusion of that wall pushing out about 10 feet,” Hopes said.

Late today, The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a press release saying news reports about a second area of seepage referenced at the press conference are unsubstantiated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnJ3h776MQY

Manatee County emergency management officials have projected a worst-case scenario in which a total collapse of the stack could send a 20-foot wall of water across adjacent property.

County officials issued a state of emergency order on April 1, followed by a state of emergency order issued on April 3 by Gov. Ron DeSantis that he later extended to Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Evacuation orders were issued for residents and businesses in the areas surrounding Piney Point. Those evacuation zones also have since been expanded.

According to Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur, 305 households remain under an evacuation order and the American Red Cross and the county are assisting displaced residents in finding accommodations. On Monday, Saur said approximately 30 people and their pets had taken shelter at local hotels.

Crisis unfolding

Located in Palmetto, near Port Manatee, the Piney Point property is owned by HRK Holdings, which purchased the property in 2006. A phosphate processing plant operated on the property from 1966 to 1999. Phosphorous and nitrogen are primary ingredients in commercial fertilizer.

The Piney Point property contains three, lined phosphogypsum stacks that serve as large retention ponds. The gyp stacks, surrounded by berms made of rock, soil and other materials, have recently held about 880 million gallons of water, which contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrates.

On Monday, March 29 – in anticipation of an impending crisis – FDEP issued an emergency order that allowed HRK to begin siphoning water from the leaking stack and transferring it through a pipeline to the deepwater channel at Berth 12 at nearby Port Manatee at a rate of 22,000 gallons per minute, Hopes said. The pipeline was originally used to transport saltwater and dredging sediments from Berth 12 to the Piney Point containment area that is now breached, he said.

At a Sunday morning press conference at the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center, DeSantis said the water currently being discharged into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee is not radioactive but does contain higher-than-desired levels of phosphorus and nitrogen. According to DeSantis, the ongoing siphoning efforts commenced on Wednesday, March 31.

There is concern among local fishermen, county commissioners and others that the increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen being dumped into Tampa Bay could create a marine environment that is more susceptible to algae blooms, including red tide. Port Manatee is located less than 20 miles from Anna Maria Island.

About 33 million gallons of water are being pumped into the port waters daily, DeSantis said. That will increase with the National Guard’s scheduled delivery of 20 additional pumps to help lower the water levels in the failing gyp stack in hopes of preventing a total breach and collapse, he said.

On Saturday, Hopes estimated it would take 10-12 days to empty into the bay all 480 million gallons of the water contained in the breached gyp stack, but those estimates changed as more pumps were put in place.

Hopes said the retention pond (gyp stack) is currently inhabited by ducks, snook and other wildlife. He said the water in the other two non-breached gyp stacks on the Piney Point property contains high levels of ammonia and is acidic.

During Sunday’s press conference, Noah Valenstein, FDEP secretary, said the water being discharged into the bay primarily consists of previously relocated saltwater from the port, “legacy process water,” or previously collected wastewater from fertilizer processing, and stormwater runoff.

Valenstein said the only uncontrolled discharge he’s aware of has been the “small amounts of water” discharged into nearby Piney Point Creek. He said flooding was currently the greatest danger posed to the public.

Hopes said the predictive model for a full breach of the partially breached gyp stack would result in about 340 million gallons of water descending on the surrounding areas in less than an hour, with the potential for a wall of cascading water 20 feet tall.

But Hopes was optimistic that a total breach could be prevented.

“We feel much better than we did three days ago with these additional assets being deployed. We’ve got a good plan in place,” he said.

DeSantis acknowledged a full breach was still possible and he said that’s what prompted the emergency response from the state.

Hopes said the nearby Manatee County Jail, which is located in the evacuation zone, had been sandbagged and staff and inmates were being relocated to the second floor. On Monday, it was announced that 345 inmates were being relocated to an undisclosed location, and approximately 720 inmates were to remain at the jail after being relocated to an upper level of the facility.

Moving forward

During Sunday’s press conference, Hopes said the liner from the breached retention stack will not be repaired and all of the water contained in the breached stack will be depleted. After the retention area is emptied, it will likely be filled in and capped to prevent future water accumulation, he said.

“This could have been resolved over two decades ago,” Hopes said, regarding the lack of previous preventive and corrective actions that resulted in the current crisis.

In 2013, county commissioners debated using deep well injection to transport the water in the Piney Point gyp stacks deep into the earth and below the underground aquifer, which feeds into Lake Manatee and serves as the primary source of drinking water in Manatee County.

According to former County Commissioner Betsy Benac, the commission never pursued that solution, in part due to public opposition to deep well injection. In December, the current county commission discussed deep well injection as a potential means to clean up Piney Point before a crisis ensued.

During Friday night’s press conference, State Rep. Will Robinson (R-Bradenton) stressed the need to address the Piney Point crisis and solve the problems once and for all.

“Obviously, our top priority is getting through this emergency that we have today,” he said.

Regarding a permanent solution, Robinson said, “This is our top legislative delegation priority for at least a year now. This quarter-century debate on what to do with this property needs to come to an end. It’s frustrating to all of us, and to the residents. Hopefully, everyone can realize now that this has got to end. We have got to stop and clean this property up. I don’t care if it’s private property. I don’t care if it’s been in bankruptcy and foreclosure. Now this property has to finally be cleaned up so we can get this off the minds of our residents, and we’re committed to doing that,” Robinson said.

State Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) said, “We’re keenly aware of the situation. It’s a legislative priority with the county commission that we deal with that this year. Sadly, tonight, we’re at a point where there is a problem. We’re going to work hard to come up with solutions and get the funding that we need to finally fix this.”

During Sunday’s press conference, DeSantis and Valenstein said the state intends to hold HRK fully responsible for any environmental damages associated with the Piney Point crisis.

According to the FDEP order issued March 29, “This Emergency Final Order does not preclude the department from enforcing any criminal or civil liabilities which may arise under Florida law as related to matters herein, nor does it relieve HRK of the need to comply with applicable federal, state, or local laws, rules or ordinances.”

Water quality concerns

On Monday, Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-Bradenton) toured the Piney Point area by helicopter before participating in an early afternoon press conference.

Saur said state and county drone teams are flying over the site every hour on the hour and providing decision-makers with real-time aerial views of the site. Saur said the drones can detect temperature changes within the berms, which indicate penetration by the contained water.

Buchanan said he asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to join the response efforts. Buchanan said the EPA and FDEP are now jointly in command of the situation. The Florida Department of Emergency Management and Manatee County also remain involved in the response efforts.

Buchanan shared his concerns about the water being discharged into Tampa Bay.

“It’s very concerning to me. I know they’re making some progress, but to see the water spewing out, it looked pretty contaminated to me,” he said, noting the Piney Point crisis impacts the entire Tampa Bay region.

“I am concerned about the threats to public safety, homes as well as businesses, and of course marine life. I’m very concerned about the impact on that. We know what that does to our communities. I really hate to see what’s happened in terms of the algae bloom and red tide, not just here, but across the state. When I see water flowing into Tampa Bay, frankly, it makes me sick,” Buchanan said.

“I want to be hopeful and optimistic, but just the fact that we’re running water into Tampa Bay is not a great thing, but the reality of it is it seems like the right thing to do right now,” he added.

“I’m not an expert, but you can see in and around where the water’s spewing in there. Around the port – I hate to say it – if you go a couple miles in each direction to me it looks like algae bloom or something, but that’s something for the scientists to determine,” Buchanan said. “I’ve been following red tide for 20 years and that could have a big impact on all of Florida.”

Regarding the unaddressed Piney Point environmental concerns that lingered for the past 20 years or so, Buchanan said, “This is something that’s being going on for too long and we’re going to come together collectively between the county, the state and the federal government to make sure we get this resolved quickly. We’re going to make sure we’ve got the resources to fix this permanently – not a patch. The company, HRK, needs to be held completely responsible.”

After thanking Buchanan for bringing the EPA and the Army Corps in to assist, Hopes addressed the failing retention area and the breaches in its outer berms.

Hopes estimated there were nearly 300 million gallons in the breached reservoir at that time. He said public officials will have a much clearer idea of that status of the reservoir now that the Army Corps is on the scene.

“Up to this point, we have been relying, and DEP has been relying on HRK’s third party engineering team. Now we have the Army Corps of Engineers in here with their engineers and we will have an additional independent evaluation,” he said.

“If we go from (pumping out) 35 million gallons a day to 100 million gallons per day, within 48 hours we will be at a situation where we will no longer have that risk of that full breach which would send that 20-foot wall of water across,” Hopes said.

“The only pool that’s at risk is that southernmost pool where we have identified breaches where we do have some uncontrolled release of water. Regarding the breaches on the eastern wall, the most visible is at the southeast corner where you see the water coming out of the side and then flowing to the north,” he said.

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