Piney Point leak: Engineers examining possible second breach, working to get extra pumps online
By Dan Matics, Kimberly Kuizon and FOX 13 News staff
Published
Full Monday afternoon press conference
Manatee County officials provide an update on the efforts to contain the Piney Point wastewater leak as of Monday, April 5.
PALMETTO, Fla. - A controlled release of contaminated water continues at the site of the Piney Point phosphate plant in Manatee County which began leaking in late March, and officials said Monday a second breach may now be present.
Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur said, around 2 a.m. Monday, an infrared drone showed a potential second leak inside the berm holding back the wastewater, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now on site to assess.
Authorities have closed off portions of the U.S. Highway 41 and ordered evacuations of 316 homes. Some families were placed in local hotels.
Manatee County Sheriff’s officials began evacuating about 345 inmates from a local jail about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away from the 77-acre pond first floor on Sunday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said models show the area could be covered with between 1 foot (30 centimeters) to 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water, and the second floor is 10 feet above ground.
Officials first announced that they would move people and staff to the second story and put sandbags on the ground floor, but Sheriff Rick Wells later said moving all the inmates to the second floor posed a security risk.
Florida works to avoid ‘catastrophic’ pond collapse Author: Chris O Meara and Adriana Gomez Licon, Associated Press Updated: 30 minutes ago Published 3 hours ago
This aerial photo taken from an airplane shows a reservoir near the old Piney Point phosphate mine, Saturday, April 3, 2021 in Bradenton, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters. The pond where the leak was discovered is at the old Piney Point phosphate mine, sitting in a stack of phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer that is radioactive. (Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP)
2nd breach a concern in Florida phosphate reservoir, officials say
Federal resources assisting in effort to control Piney Point reservoir
Curt Anderson
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A drone discovered a possible second breach in a large Florida wastewater reservoir as more pumps were headed to the site to prevent a catastrophic flood, officials said Monday.
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Republican, toured the area by helicopter Monday and said federal resources were committed to assisting the effort to control the 77-acre (33-hectare) Piney Point reservoir in Manatee County, just south of the Tampa Bay area.
Among those are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, Buchanan said at a news conference.
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