Polluted wastewater from Piney Point continues to be released into Tampa Bay

Polluted wastewater with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus continued to flow into Tampa Bay from the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant Wednesday under an emergency order from state environmental regulators. 

The water is being released through the Port of Manatee at a rate of about 11,000 gallons per minute, or more than an estimated 14 million gallons per day, to relieve pressure on the walls of a giant containment reservoir at Piney Point, according to Florida Department of Environmental Protection documents.

The polluted water release has raised concern about the effects on the marine environment and possibility of red tide.

The DEP approved the wastewater release into the Tampa Bay ecosystem to avoid a catastrophic failure of the phosphogypsum stack system at Piney Point that could put nearby development and ecosystems, such as Bishop Harbor, in peril. 

“The department’s top priority is ensuring the protection of public safety and health and minimizing any potential environmental impacts,” DEP spokesperson Weesam Khoury said in a statement. 

At this time the leak’s cause is believed to be a tear in the liner of a water containment compartment, according to DEP. This is the same compartment that leaked in 2011, according to a public presentation by Piney Point site manager Jeff Barrath to Manatee County commissioners on Feb. 2. 

DEP will continue to monitor the situation, and said facility owner HRK Holdings will be held “accountable for fulfilling their obligations under department rules and their administrative agreement with the department regarding its duties as owner of the phosphogypsum stack system at the site.” 

However, the high density polyethylene liner that is suspected to have torn was installed between 2003 and September 2005 by contractors hired by DEP, which took over the Piney Point facility in 2001 after Piney Point Phosphates filed for bankruptcy, according to DEP documents. DEP also treated and removed hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater at the site.

“By the end of 2006, the inventory of ponded process water had in fact been reduced from more than 800 million gallons to about 35 million gallons or less,” 2007 DEP documents state. “As a result, there is currently little threat of a catastrophic spill of the process water contained on-site as long as the remaining pumps and seepage collection ditches are properly maintained and operated during the rest of the closure period.”

Although water levels had been reduced by DEP, HRK Holdings agreed to accept dredging materials from the Port of Manatee Berth 12 expansion project that took place between April 2011 and October 2011. HRK Holdings purchased the property in August 2006.

Adding that sea water and dredging material, combined with additional natural rainfall and seepage collection water, has changed the composition of the Piney Point wastewater, making it less acidic. Today the NGS-S pond, where the leak is suspected to be, sustains wildlife such as fish and waterfowl.

However since adding that dredging water to what was left behind by DEP, Piney Point has seen problems again. 

In May 2011, HRK Holdings found a leak caused by a tear in the liner in the NGS-S pond, similar to the one discovered last week. That incident led to a similar emergency release of about 169.18 million gallons of wastewater in June 2011 that “found its way to Tampa Bay” through the Buckeye Road ditch.

Wastewater at the stacks also continues to rise, and was less than a foot away from maximum capacity before the current leak was discovered.