Florida officials work to prevent catastrophic flood from leaking reservoir
By Kelly Hayes article
Drone footage from Manatee County shows water flowing from Piney Point. (Photo credit: Manatee County via FOX 13 Tampa Bay)
PALMETTO, Fla. - Officials in Florida said Sunday that crews were working to prevent the collapse of a large reservoir leaking in the Tampa Bay area and holding some 300 million gallons of water. The area has been evacuated, including hundreds of inmates at a county jail, to avoid a catastrophic flood.
An uncontrolled breach at the old phosphate plant reservoir has the potential to spill out 340 million gallons of water in a matter of minutes, risking a 20-foot-high wall of water, according to Manatee County officials.
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From the WMNF archives: Contaminated water at Piney Point puts Tampa Bay on brink of disaster
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Note, this is one of the many articles about the pending disaster at Piney Point that WMNF has published over the years. This one is from September 2020. In April 2021, a breach occurred, threatening a possible collapse of a gyp stack. In response, a controlled release of millions of gallons of polluted water is being sent into Port Manatee.
Contaminated water at the former Piney Point phosphate plant is nearing the site’s capacity, putting all of Tampa Bay at risk for an environmental crisis.