By Mariana Navarrete, Contributing Writer
A phosphate processing plant that produces fertilizer in Manatee County has been an environmental threat to Tampa Bay since 1966. But, in March, a leak on the walls of its waste reservoir sparked a threat to the residents of the area and Tampa Bay’s ecosystems.
On April 3rd, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Manatee County as officials feared an “imminent” collapse at the old Piney Point phosphate plant. They feared it could release a rush of polluted water into the surrounding area — and then into Tampa Bay itself.
DeSantis has mobilized state resources to prevent a catastrophic spill of hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted industrial wastewater from the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant into nearby homes and businesses by working to double the speed at which wastewater is being dumped into Tampa Bay.
The 480 million gallons of wastewater—now lowered to a 300 million gallon reservoir—has been leaking for days, and crews have used front-end loaders, excavators, and dump trucks to pile dirt over the breach.
The Herald-Tribune highlights that officials hope that pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater out of the reservoir will relieve pressure on the walls and reduce the chance of a collapse.
“Short term, I worry about algae blooms and fish kills, and, long term, I worry about the nitrogen balance in the bay, which is a delicate thing,” said Justin Bloom, a board member of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper and Suncoast Waterkeeper.
According to Tampa Bay Times, on-site engineers have worried the situation could escalate into some wastewater spill since March 25th, when they saw the leak. As one containment wall shifted to the side, engineers feared a “structural collapse” that could happen at any time.
The collapse would cause a rush of toxic wastewater within seconds. The flood would spread through the area, affecting the people living there—around 315 homes—and then the bay, where it could harm the ecosystem.
“A catastrophic release of mixed seawater, processed water, and embankment materials from the system could result in personal injury or severe property and environmental damage,” a Department of Environmental Protection official wrote in the emergency order.
Environmental advocates are concerned about the effect that releasing this wastewater will have on wildlife in Tampa Bay. Red tide happens when algae uncontrollably grows through an excess amount of nutrients, unbalancing the ecosystem.
“Red tide events are always a possibility, especially in Tampa Bay. The last thing you want to do is add nutrients to the water that would speed up possible blooms and outbreaks of red tide,” said Glenn Compton, chairman of environmental advocacy group Manasota-88, to the Herald-Tribune.
Red tide has been an issue in the area before, and Compton said it adversely affects the local economy because of its effect on tourism and recreational activities.
After five years, on April 5th, inspectors of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) arrived at the Gopher Resource where Piney Point is located. The inspection came a week after two members of Congress wrote to Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and requested review in response to a Tampa Bay Times investigation.
Tampa Bay Times has been running an investigation on workers’ lead and toxic gas exposure at the plant. Reporters found workers inside the factory had been exposed to air-lead levels hundreds of times above the federal limit. Many were issued respirators that were not strong enough to protect them.
Some findings are that eight out of ten workers from 2014 to 2018 had enough lead in their blood to put them at risk of increased blood pressure, kidney dysfunction, or cardiovascular disease. In the past five years, at least 14 current and former workers have had heart attacks or strokes after working in the most contaminated areas of the plant.
Despite evacuation efforts on April 3rd, residents have grown apathetic to the event since it has been a threat for decades and there have been polluted discharges in the past.
“If we survive this latest episode… I want to see the government stop talking about the issue and start fixing it,” Kenneth Rexford, a Manatee County resident, said to Tampa Bay Times.
Rexford commented that he has witnessed the hazards of the phosphate plant first-hand since he moved to Manatee County in 2010.
Tracey Washington, a local activist and leader of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition’s Manatee County chapter, was concerned that her son in the Manatee County Jail was not evacuated from the zone that could suffer the catastrophe.
The prisoners have been locked down and did not know about the potential wastewater collapse at Piney Point, Washington said.
Washington and another local activist—Eleuterio “Junior” Salazar, a former Bradenton City Council candidate—immediately got to work, pulling together various non-profit organizations and activists in less than 24 hours for a protest.
According to WTSP, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office announced on April 4th that it would be moving 345 inmates from the Manatee County Jail to an “undisclosed location” because of the breach at the Piney Point reservoir. The prison is within the mandatory evacuation zone.
Manatee County officials hope they will be able to declare by the end of April 6th, that the immediate crisis at Piney Point has passed, and that a breach in a wastewater retention pond wall at the old fertilizer plant property is no longer at risk of widening into a catastrophic breach.
An engineering team from the Florida Department of Emergency Management, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the Army Corps of Engineers determined on April 5th that the site was safe enough for workers to be on the site.
“We will be able to, most likely, to report that we’re moving out of that critical stage of a potential full breach to something that is far better contained and the risk level will be lower this afternoon at the rate that we’re going,” Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes told the County Commission.
DeSantis ordered a permanent closure of the Piney Point phosphate processing plant on April 12th. There are no threats of the collapse of the wastewater reservoirs, but experts worry about long-term impacts on the Tampa Bay area.
It is clear the government is taking action towards the leak and doing whatever they can to prevent further consequences to the people and Tampa Bay’s environment. It is questionable whether the plant’s workers were considered to be in a state of emergency as well, since they have been working for years with lead levels that are either not good for themselves or for the bay.
