6,000 Gallons Of Wastewater Spilled During Piney Point Power Failure

PALMETTO, FL — About 6,000 gallons of untreated industrial wastewater spilled Thursday morning during a power failure at the Piney Point site, according to a notice filed by Manatee County with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The site experienced a significant wastewater reservoir breach in 2021. At the time, more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water was released directly into Tampa Bay. During the breach, the radioactive gypstack at the site nearly collapsed, prompting an emergency evacuation in the area.

Months after the wastewater breach, the county installed a deep-well injection system to remove the remainder of the contaminated water from the site.

Staff noticed Thursday’s spill at the former phosphate fertilizer processing plant in Palmetto around 11:30 a.m. after power went out because of a tripped breaker, the notice said.

This led to a loss of communications and control at the plant. When the plant lost power, the offsite transfer pump, which sends the industrial wastewater from the Piney Point facility to the pretreatment plant, continued to pump, causing an overflow from the tanks.

Staff manually shut off the transfer pump to stop the discharge around 11:40 a.m.

The discharged water soaked into the ground and didn’t leave the plant’s site, the county wrote in the notice.

Staff is working to determine by the backup power source and fail safe controls didn’t kick in.