US 41 shut down near Piney Point leak over imminent threat wastewater could gush from collapse
A full breach is possible at a retention pond holding between 700 and 800 million gallons of water in Manatee County, according to the acting county administrator. Author: 10 Tampa Bay Updated: 8:44 AM EDT April 4, 2021
PALMETTO, Fla. Saturday afternoon, Manatee County officials expanded its mandatory evacuation order around the breached Piney Point reservoir.
In a release, the county says U.S. 41 s closure has been expanded a half-mile west and one-mile southwest south from Buckeye Road to Moccasin Wallow Road. Moccasin Wallow Road will be closed west of 38th Avenue East.
The Florida Highway Patrol has closed a large segment of US-41 in Manatee and Hillsborough counties due to possible overflow from a phosphate processing plant in Palmetto. US-41 is closed at 113th Street East in Bradenton and at College Avenue in Ruskin, troopers said. Motorists are asked to detour through I-75 instead. The issue prompted […]
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A view of a phosphogypsum stack, far background, and water management at HRK Holdingsâ property off Buckeye Road on March 30 in Palmetto, Manatee County, where wastewater is suspected to be leaking at the old Piney Point phosphate plant in Palmetto, records show. Florida environmental officials are allowing HRK Holdings to discharge some of the water at Port Manatee on Tampa Bay to prevent âa potential catastrophic failure.â The emergency order from the Department of Environmental Protection comes after HRK Holdings reported that it had found a leak at the site, a state spokeswoman said. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD ]
Leak at wastewater pond prompts evacuations in Florida
April 3, 2021 GMT
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) Officials in Florida were evacuating homes and a highway Saturday near a large reservoir of wastewater because of a significant leak that authorities fear could lead to floods and a collapse of a system with radioactive material.
The area under evacuation is north of Bradenton, Florida. News outlets say the Red Cross has been called in to help residents.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a break was detected Friday in one of the walls of a 77-acre (33-hectare) pond, holding millions of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.
The emergency order follows the closure of parts of U.S. 41 in Manatee and Hillsborough counties and the evacuation of homes and businesses in the area.