The state of Florida plans to budget as much as $115 million to treat contaminated water and take steps to permanently close the site of the former Piney Point phosphate plant after a recent leak at a phosphogypsum stack (GM April 2, p. 29) caused the release of an estimated 215 million gallons of contaminated water into Port Manatee and Tampa Bay.
During a visit to the site on April 13, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he was redirecting $15.4 million in Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) funds to pretreat water at the Piney Point site in case additional controlled discharges are needed to reduce pressure in the reservoir, the Orlando Sentinel reported. DeSantis also said investigators are working to determine if legal action can be taken against HRK Holdings, the owner of the Piney Point site.
“Rigorous water quality monitoring will continue so the state can assess any potential ecological impact from this event,” DeSantis said. “This data will be used by DEP as they move forward with enforcement to hold HRK accountable. And I’m further directing DEP to fully investigate the incidents here at Piney Point and to take any and all legal actions to ensure we hold HRK and any other actors fully accountable.”
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson also said the state legislature is expected to provide $100 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel, with the hope that the FDEP will be able to complete a closure plan for the site by the end of the year. The Florida Senate on April 7 added $3 million in its proposed budget to start cleanup efforts at Piney Point. Simpson had earlier estimated the total cleanup cost at $200 million, and suggested using money from the state’s share of the American Rescue Plan federal stimulus package.
The recent troubles at Piney Point began on March 26, when an HRK site manager warned the FDEP of a leak at the site. HRK notified FDEP again on March 28 that a boil was observed at the foot of the gypstack, prompting the FDEP to allow an emergency release of wastewater from the stack. On March 30, HRK began controlled discharges as part of its efforts to ensure the structural integrity of the water management system at the site.
Fears of a stack collapse prompted the evacuation of some 316 local residents on April 2, with DeSantis issuing an executive order on April 3 declaring a state of emergency in the three counties potentially affected by the 79-acre reservoir. The evacuation was lifted on April 6 when the discharges were able to reduce water levels in the NGS-South compartment of the reservoir to 232 million gallons from the initial 480 million gallons (GM April 9, p. 1).
The discharges were stopped on April 9, and FDEP reported on April 10 that the leak in the gypstack had been sealed with a steel plate. Heavy rains over the weekend added additional water to the stack, however, with FDEP on April 11 estimating that rainwater had increased water levels in the south pond from 217 million to 221 million gallons.
FDEP has stressed all along that the major problem with the water was its nutrient content, and that it was not radioactive. It said teams are now deploying nutrient reduction and removal treatments onsite to address any required discharges in the future. Environmental groups and local residents, however, are concerned that the discharged wastewater could result in algal blooms and fish kills in Port Manatee and Tampa Bay.
“The state has to make adequate investment to clean the water, close the site, and make commitments to regulation and enforcement that ensures we are never on the edge of a disaster like this again,” Earthjustice Attorney Bonnie Malloy said in an April 13 statement. “This is a first step, and we need to see the follow-through before we celebrate. The DEP needs to investigate the other Florida phosphate waste sites and be proactive in managing this threat. At this point, there’s no excuse for any of these phosphate facilities to escape scrutiny.”
The southern pond is the largest of three reservoirs of contaminated water on the Piney Point site, which was abandoned by Mulberry Phosphates when it declared bankruptcy in February 2001. Emergency discharges from the stack have occurred several times in the past due to heavy rains, including in 2003 (GM Jan. 13, 2003), and again in 2013 (GM Sept. 9, 2013).