Florida Residents Threatened by Reservoir Leak Are Allowed to Return Home
A Manatee County official said that additional pumps and the rerouting of water from an uncontrolled breach had “successfully mitigated” the risk of collapse.
Scott Hopes, the acting administrator of Manatee County, Fla., announced at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon that residents were allowed to return to their homes.Credit.Chris O Meara/Associated Press
April 6, 2021Updated 8:02 p.m. ET
Florida residents were allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday after they had been forced to evacuate when a breach in a 79-acre reservoir holding wastewater south of Tampa raised the threat of a collapse that could unleash a 20-foot wall of water.
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A leak at the reservoir of an old phosphate plant in Piney Point, Florida, as shown in an aerial photograph on April 3, has prompted evacuations, environmental concerns and threats of a full-fledged breach.
Officials say the wastewater being released into Tampa Bay is not radioactive but it does contain a lot of nutrients that can fuel algal blooms. Scientists say it will take time to see if damage occurs.
Environmental officials are closely monitoring the water quality near Piney Point in Manatee County where hundreds of millions of gallons are being discharged into Tampa Bay.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been publishing water quality samples from 11 areas near the discharge site and further out into the bay.
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Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of wastewater into the Tampa Bay ecosystem from a reservoir at Piney Point – a former phosphate plant in Manatee County. A leak in the liner of the reservoir has caused a partial breach in one of the containment walls and 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 an uncontrolled major breach.
/ Manatee County Commission Chairwoman Vanessa Baugh said the commission voted to pump the remaining water from the phosphogypsum stacks at Piney Point into a deep injection well on nearby county-owned land.
Acting Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes says it appears workers at the site have been able to bring the situation under control.
Now that a mandatory evacuation order has been lifted and a major roadway is open, optimism remains high that crews will be able to contain a leak at the Piney Point processing plant in Manatee County.
At a press conference Tuesday, officials said more than two dozen pumps are pumping out around 100 million gallons of wastewater each day much higher than earlier levels.