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.
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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