Port Manatee Water Samples 'Meet Water Quality Standards': FDEP

Updated: 7:40 p.m., Monday

PALMETTO, FL — Engineers have determined that there is no second breach at Piney Point’s main reservoir after an infrared drone indicated that there could be a second leak at the site early Monday.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Southwest Florida Water Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other third-party engineers worked together to evaluate the site Monday and determined it was safe for crews to continue working at the site, FDEP tweeted around 5 p.m. Monday.

Small leaks were first detected at Piney Point, the site of a former phosphate processing plant, March 25. County staff discovered a larger breach at the eastern wall of the site Friday, and an evacuation order — which was expanded Saturday — was issued for the area.

Since then, the county and multiple local, regional, state and, now, federal partners have been working to mechanically remove water from the leaking reservoir into Tampa Bay in an attempt to prevent a large-scale breach at the site, a flood of wastewater affecting the area and the collapse of the phosphogypsum stacks at the site.

Thermal imaging from the drones, operated by the FDEP, initially indicated around 2 a.m. Monday that there could be a second leak, this one located along the northern portion of the retention pond’s eastern wall, said Scott Hopes, acting county administrator, at a Monday news conference.

The team working at the site overnight was evacuated from the area when the potential breach was discovered, Jacob Saur, Manatee County’s public safety manager, added.

Workers have since returned to the area, the FDEP said.

All uncontrolled wastewater discharge at the Piney Point reservoir has stopped flowing and the concentrated seepage from the reservoir’s east wall “remains concentrated onsite in the site’s lined stormwater management,” FDEP tweeted.

The FDEP, collaborating with Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties, and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, has also tested water samples at Port Manatee and the adjacent coastline to determine the water isn’t radioactive and “meet(s) water quality standards.” Starting Monday, water from 11 locations in the area will be tested daily.

The department is also working to remove nutrients from the water before it’s mechanically discharged “to prevent or minimize algal blooms in Port Manatee and surrounding areas,” FDEP said.

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In addition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, additional federal assistance at Piney Point has been offered by the Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan reached out to bring the EPA to Manatee County for this crisis.

The county continues to use two main pumps and a number of smaller pumps to remove water from the reservoir, moving it into Tampa Bay, Saur said.

The state has sent another 20 pumps to Manatee County. These are being installed and should be operational by the end of the day, he said.

Until this point, the county had been removing about 35 million gallons of water a day from the reservoir, Hopes said. Just under 300 million gallons remained in the reservoir Monday morning.

The additional pumps will speed up this controlled removal process, he added. “You can imagine if we go from 35 million gallons a day to 100 million gallons a day or more pulling it out, you can see how within probably 48 hours, if all those flows continue, we will be at a situation where we will no longer have that risk of a full breach that will send that 20-foot wall of water across” the area.

County and state teams continue to fly drones over Piney Point hourly. Drone imaging offers “a real-time view of what is occurring out at the site,” Saur said. Temperature changes recorded by the drones at the berm could indicate additional leaks.

The county’s evacuation order for the area remains in place. Residents can plug their address into this tool provided by the county to see if they fall within the Piney Point evacuation zone. They can also call 311 with additional questions.

The EPA has delivered 100,000 bottles of water to the Manatee County Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1 Haben Blvd. in Palmetto for anyone who needs it.

Buchanan toured Piney Point by helicopter Monday and expressed concern about what he saw.

“I know they’re making some progress, but to see the water spewing out, it looked pretty contaminated to me,” he said.

He requested a federal response to the crisis because he wants “the best and the brightest on the ground” in Manatee County.

He’s concerned about the environmental impact of this wastewater relocation on the greater Tampa Bay area on residents and marine life.

“When I see water flowing into Tampa Bay, frankly, it makes me sick about it,” Buchanan said.

He added, “I want to be hopeful, optimistic, but just the fact that we’re running water into the Tampa Bay is not a great thing and not a great place to be at, but the reality of it is it seems like the right thing to do right now.”

The congressman also vowed to find a long-term solution to the problem, and to use the Piney Point crisis as a springboard for tackling water quality issues throughout the state.

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