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Did Piney Point Learn Lessons from 2021 Disaster?

Last spring, the former phosphate processing plant drew international headlines when a leak threatened to collapse the system and send contaminated water rushing into the surrounding area.

Aerial view of a large reservoir.
Aerial photo of the phosphogypsum stacks at the former Piney Point phosphate plant where one stack is in danger of imminent collapse, officials in Florida say, on April 2, 2021. (Tiffany Tompkins/Bradenton Herald/TNS)
TNS
(TNS) - Much has changed in one year at Piney Point, where harmful nutrients are no longer spilling into Tampa Bay and site operators finally feel optimistic about closing down for good.

Last spring, the former phosphate processing plant drew international headlines when a leak threatened to collapse the system and send contaminated water rushing into the surrounding area. State officials promised to close the site after releasing 215 million gallons of that water in order to avoid a larger disaster.

Since then, Piney Point has received the attention it deserves, said Herbert Donica, the man tasked with shutting it down more than 20 years after it was first abandoned. The water is cleaner, the site is properly staffed, and adequate funding means the beleaguered property is on track to close by the end of 2024, according to a new plan approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

"I told (the FDEP) that the only way I would agree to this project is if we're headed for a straight closure," said Donica, who is serving as a court-appointed receiver and overseer of daily operations. "This is the first closure plan that gives us direction and an agreement to close the facility."

That's in contrast to the leadership under HRK Holdings, the company that purchased the 670-acre property from FDEP. In 2006, the New York-based company hatched a plan to turn the wasteland into a moneymaker. Those days are over, said Donica.

"We're out of choices. There's no profit in this procedure," Donica explained.

What's the history at Piney Point?

As a former phosphate processing plant, the facility took in phosphate rock before running it through machinery to extract phosphorous, one of the key ingredients in fertilizer. For nearly 40 years, the plant left behind waste that isn't easy to throw away.

Gypsum is one of those byproducts, which is leftover from when the machines used water to extract phosphorous from the rock. Because it is slightly radioactive, gypsum cannot be used for any purpose. At Piney Point — and at least two dozen other sites in Florida — the material is piled up to form gypsum stacks.

Process water, which is used to help operate the machinery, is another byproduct at Piney Point. The facility used massive amounts of water to break down the phosphate rock. As a result, the water absorbs nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus that need to be removed before it can be released into local waterways.

At Piney Point, the process water sits in ponds on top of the gypsum stacks, separated from the gypsum by thick plastic liners. A tear in that liner caused the leak that threatened to collapse the entire system last April.

Scientists have pinned last year's release of 215 million gallons of process water as one of the main contributors to an extended bout of red tide in Tampa Bay last summer.

How has Piney Point improved over the past year?

Last year's system failure came 20 years after the facility's owners went belly up, leaving government officials to deal with the fallout. Following the 2021 environmental disaster, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the full shutdown of the site, and the Florida Legislature backed the project with $100 million.

The funding made a world of a difference for Jeff Barath, who has transitioned to work under Donica after managing the site for HRK for more than 15 years.

"Take it from the guy who was here. When I managed Piney Point, our funding didn't allow for contingencies. We were reacting to everything that was happening," said Barath. "Now, we have access to money that prevents something from going wrong. We're not just reacting anymore."

Under HRK, Barath operated the facility with just six staffers, including himself. Today's funding pays for 35 employees to work on the property every day. Those workers monitor the water levels, check for leaks and repair liner weaknesses as they find them.

"We have entire teams of professionals doing the work. Little details are no longer being overlooked," Barath said.

Water treatment technologies have vastly improved the quality of the water in the ponds, operators say. More than 265 tons of nitrogen and 240 tons of phosphorus have been removed from the water, according to FDEP.

In fact, the water at Piney Point has become safe enough for one of Florida's most common critters to call it home. In March, operators called Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers to trap and remove eight alligators.

How will Piney Point get rid of contaminated water?

The problems at Piney Point grew while the facility collected water from rainfall over the years, and officials struggled to come to an agreement on which method would be best to treat and remove the contaminated water. In the end, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners voted to build an underground injection well to get rid of the water.

An underground injection well, also known as a deep well, is a giant pump that shoots water 3,500 feet below ground. Hydrogeology experts say the water will then undergo natural treatment. The well is not expected to have any impact on the county's drinking water supply.

Construction of the underground injection well is underway on a 42-acre site just across the street from the Piney Point property. The well is expected to begin removing up to 1 million gallons of water per day later this year.

The deep well has not been a popular choice for certain environmental conservation activists. Last year, a group of organizations sued the state in an effort to block the well and urge officials to consider another site cleanup technique.

"We strongly object to the current plan to discharge the wastewater into the well. The county and the commissioners are ill-informed about what they're getting into," Justin Bloom, founder of Suncoast Waterkeeper, one of the organizations that threatened a lawsuit, said at the time. "They're rushing into what could be a very dangerous action. They really need to take a hard look at (underground injection control wells) before they move forward."

A federal judge has put the case on hold. Reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, Bloom said the organizations remain concerned about the well and are continuing to review Piney Point's closure plan.

Even when the well begins operating, draining the ponds at Piney Point will take several months. Roughly 400 million gallons remain in the ponds, operators say. Without major weather events that fill the ponds with more water, Donica expects to shut the property down by December 2024.

Emergency situation prompted action on Piney Point

Barath recalls sounding the alarm at Piney Point for years, hoping that officials would agree to resolve the situation before disaster struck. In a presentation to county leaders less than 6 months before the leak, he warned that the site would soon reach maximum capacity.

Now that there's a final plan in place, Barath suggested that last year's emergency may have been a blessing in disguise.

"Everybody kept waiting for a miracle that would make the water go away," Barath said. "It took that event to really focus everybody on what had to happen."

"In a way, the near-disaster in April was a good thing because it pushed the people who could make this happen ... in the same direction — no more putting Band-Aids on it or kicking the can down the road," Donica added.

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