Piney Point Closure Plan OK’d, Facility To Close By End Of 2024: FDEP

PALMETTO, FL — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued an order Wednesday approving the conceptual closure plan for Piney Point, an inactive phosphogypsum processing facility in Palmetto.

The site experienced a significant wastewater reservoir breach one year ago, in late March and early April of 2021. During the crisis, many homes and businesses near the site were evacuated by Manatee County due to the threat of a wall of contaminated wastewater flooding the area.

The site is surrounded by phosphogypsum stacks, the radioactive waste leftover from the process of turning phosphate ore into materials used in fertilizer. At the time, about 215 million gallons of contaminated water were pumped into Tampa Bay to alleviate pressure on the system.

While considering state and federal environmental protection requirements to close the site, the approved plan proposes a phased closure process. According to the proposed schedule, the site’s closure will be complete by December 2024, FDEP said.

“(The plan) includes a strategy for continued water management at the site that is essential to eliminate the current process water from the reservoir areas as well as details on construction of a closed system that protects both ground waters and surface waters in the area,” the agency said.

A deep-well injection system to remove the remainder of the contaminated water was approved by Manatee County commissioners after the wastewater breach. Drilling at the site began in December.

The well is being drilled about 3,300 feet underground and all water is being pre-treated prior to injection into the well, the county said. Drilling is expected to last through the end of 2022.

A federal judge has also put a six-month hold on a lawsuit filed by several Tampa Bay-area environmental groups against the FDEP and other defendants, claiming they mishandled the site, according to WUSF.

In an order issued March 25, U.S. District Judge William Jung said that Florida’s court system “already has a running start on the closure of Piney Point.” The state legislature already approved $100 million for cleaning up the site.

“So long as it appears the state actors continue to operate in good faith, this federal court is reluctant to interfere with these ongoing state endeavors. Finally, a stay may simplify the issues of this case,” Jung wrote. “The state-court receiver has already taken over daily operations of the site and is working to assemble a team of experts. His reports will shed light on the scope of the alleged environmental damage, as well as the best ways to remediate it.”