Tampa Bay Stares Down Environmental Disaster

Tampa Bay Stares Down Environmental Disaster

A leak was discovered on March 27th in a 77-acre process water pond at the Piney Point industrial site.  A series of catastrophic breaches in an 800-million-gallon holding pool prompted Manatee County, FL to evacuate residents within about a mile of the plant. The old phosphate plant site was in operation from the 1960s until 2001,  holding stacks of phosphogypsum, a  slightly radioactive byproduct of fertilizer production, and large pools of polluted water contaminated with nutrients and heavy metals, like cadmium, held back by aging dams. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection stated that draining it was the only way to prevent “a containment failure and catastrophic release.”

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol closed off roads in the evacuation zone around U.S. 41 in Palmetto, per the Bradenton Herald, and the Red Cross had been called in to assist. Scott Hopes, acting Manatee County administrator addressed reporters at a press conference around 9:20 pm, stating: 

• Water was being discharged into Tampa Bay at the rate of 22,000 gallons per minute, or 32 million gallons a day 
• The water is acidic and smells of ammonia, although the pool supported wildlife like snook and ducks.
•  When Hopes was asked if it was contaminated, he stated that he “wouldn’t drink it.”
• The plant site is considered to be “one of the biggest environmental threats in Florida history.”

Area evacuated south of the site, per the Manatee County Public Safety Department.

Area evacuated north and west of the site, per the Manatee County Public Safety Department.

A controlled release of water began on March 30 at a rate of 35 million gallons per day. The additional pumps will help pump 23,500 gallons of water per minute, or 33 million gallons of water per day into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee.  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the water is mainly a mix of saltwater with wastewater and stormwater and is not radioactive.

However, site manager Jeff Barath’s spoke to the county commissioners about the situation, stating that “There will likely be impacts in Tampa Bay”. In addition, USF geoscience professor Matthew Pasek initially warned that we’re now looking at irreversible damage such as:

• “Algae blooms followed by fish kills are the most likely thing,” Pasek said. “It’s going to impact the food chain further down the line too. It’s unlikely to cause human damage, but there’s going to be a pretty stinky bay for a while.”
• A state environmental spokeswoman wrote of the water: “It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern, nor is it expected to be toxic,” per the Tampa Bay Times.
• The DEP said in a statement that it’s “dedicated to full enforcement of any damages to our state’s resources and holding [property owner HRK Holdings] accountable for this event.”

During a press conference Sunday morning, Governor Ron DeSantis said the water was tested before the controlled release and continues to be tested. Although experts have said that the water nutrients are likely to cause harmful algae blooms, he added that the primary concern is the nutrients in the water, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen. 

This story first appeared in the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter.