Piney Point springs a leak, again, but Florida officials are not concerned
The former Piney Point fertilizer plant in Manatee County has sprung a leak – again.
Officials discovered “three low volume seepage areas” late Jan. 5 from the same wastewater retention pond that breached in April, when officials authorized the release of about 215 million gallons of nitrogen-rich water into Tampa Bay.
Despite the latest leak, Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials say they are not concerned about the integrity or stability of the phosphogypsum stack. That is what the pond sits on top of and where the wastewater that is seeping is kept, according to a press release from the agency.
The former Piney Point fertilizer plant has not been in operation since 2001, but its problems have continued to plague the community. In 2011, a breach in one of the ponds sent 170 million gallons of wastewater into Bishop Harbor. It's the same pond that breached last year, the same pond leaking today.
The facility is being managed by a court-appointed third party, and contractors are working with the state to investigate the source of the latest leak.
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Crews are conducting sonar surveys to help narrow down the source, and divers are inspecting the pond's liner as part of the ongoing investigation.
The wastewater ponds at Piney Point are out in the open air, so they collect any rain and runoff that falls on top of them.
About 36.3 inches of rain has fallen since June, and now Piney Point only has about 18.6 inches of capacity left. DEP anticipates about 14 inches of rain this year by the end of May.
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To help manage water levels, officials transferred about 11.8 million gallons of wastewater to Manatee County's North Regional Water Reclamation Facility since Sept. 2 for treatment.
Technology also has been used for onsite water treatment since April, and that work is ongoing to remove nutrients. About 265 tons of nitrogen and 240 tons of phosphorus have been removed from Piney Point wastewater.
Manatee County also has started building a new deep-well injection system across the street from the Piney Point facility, receiving final approval from the DEP in mid-December.
The well will be used to dispose of pre-treated wastewater from the facility by injecting it into the Lower Floridan Aquifer as a part of the necessary process to remove all the wastewater so that the facility can be permanently shut down.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Piney Point springs a leak, again
