Plans to dispose of Piney Point wastewater underground gain momentum

BRADENTON – Plans to build an injection well to dispose of wastewater at Piney Point continue to progress, and crews are ready to begin construction once the state issues a permit.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Manatee County officials discussed the proposal with residents at a public meeting Wednesday evening at the Manatee County Central Library. Although many residents cited objections to the plan, the meeting was one of the last steps before DEP can issue final approval. 

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Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said site work and preconstruction have already been completed at the well location, across the street from the former Piney Point fertilizer plant.

“If you go out there now, you will see a whole lot of big equipment,” he said. “The only thing we haven't done is start punching that hole.”

A breach in April at one of the wastewater ponds at the former fertilizer facility led to the emergency release of about 215 million gallons of nutrient-rich wastewater into Tampa Bay.

The permit would allow Manatee County to build a Class I Injection Well to push wastewater deep underground at a depth up to 3,300 feet below the surface.

At about 950 feet below, a monitoring well would ensure wastewater does not reach underground drinking water in case of failure.

Environmental advocates have organized in opposition, and five environmental groups notified Manatee County last month of an incoming lawsuit aimed at stopping the effort.

Among the groups, ManaSota-88 representatives said wells are subject to failure, and there are too many unknowns to safely inject treated or partially treated wastewater. The Center for Biological Diversity, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, and Our Children's Earth Foundation also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“The operation of a deep well relies very heavily on predictions and good faith,” ManaSota-88 said in a Sunday press release. “The worst wastes end up in these wells and existing DEP regulations are inadequate ... If a failure occurs, very little can be done to correct it. If an aquifer is contaminated, it's too late.”

On Wednesday evening, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried also issued a public comment to DEP in opposition to the well.

“It defies all logic for this agency to approve a permit, for the first time ever, to deep well inject heavy metals, radioactive byproducts, and other phosphate mining hazardous waste from Piney Point into the aquifer, risking further environmental contamination as well as potential contamination of the local water supply,” Fried said in the statement. “This potentially disastrous decision would be in spite of the industry’s own studies showing a high risk of migration, and despite experts telling this agency that there are better environmental alternatives available, like reverse osmosis.”

Officials push for well

Hopes and state officials counter that injecting the wastewater could be the most environmentally responsible option.

Hopes said the situation at Piney Point remains urgent, as heavy rainfall continues to cause wastewater levels to rise at an alarming rate and threaten to overflow the retention ponds.

“In 2011 or 2013, (DEP) loaded that process water on barges and dumped it in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, so that's an alternative,” Hopes said. “DEP and HRK already dumped 215 million gallons over the course of seven days in Tampa Bay (in April), so that's an option... Or we can do the cleanest of all the options for the local environment, and put it in an injection well.”

The county already operates three Class I injection wells, and Hopes indicated the county could explore using a well at Buffalo Creek to dispose of some Piney Point wastewater while the new well is under construction to expedite the process. 

The Buffalo Creek well was drilled a few years ago to dispose of the brine created by a future desalinization water plant. 

Residents speak out

At least 70 residents attended Wednesday's meeting, with many expressing concern for underground drinking water.

Isabelle Featherston, a Hillsborough County resident who lives in Sundance, a community just northeast of Piney Point, said she is concerned about the impact an injection well could have on her home. 

“The engineers have messed up before when they said the retention ponds were safe, and then we had that disaster,” Featherston said. “I don't trust the engineers to have it right this time ... If our well water is poisoned, our home value will go from $410,000 to zero. My husband and I are senior citizens, we are on a fixed income, we can't afford to move. We don't want to be known for living in the next version of the love canal.”

Polk County resident Todd Gooding made the drive to Manatee County over his concern with the phosphate mining industry in general.

“I've watched the mines, from childhood, destroy the state,” Gooding said. “It just seems like a vicious cycle ... You can drive right through Polk County and look at what they call reclamation. It's never been reclaimed, and it's never been put back to what it was.”