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HRK warned of disaster at Piney Point for months and asked for help, now DEP says they’re on the hook
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HRK holdings spent months warning Manatee commissioners and state officials of impending disaster at Piney Point. Despite the pleas for help, Florida officials said HRK will be on the hook for a narrowly avoided catastrophe at the shuddered phosphate plant that it owns.
Florida DEP head Noah Valenstein said a legal team in Tallahassee is working just as hard as crews on the ground at Piney Point cleaning the spill.
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“We also have a team of attorneys back at Tallahassee that are making sure they take advantage of all the information we’re collecting,” he said. “To then put together a case to hold HRK fully accountable.”
The state expects to put more than $115 million toward closing the site of a former phosphate plant where a reservoir leak set off a wastewater crisis in Manatee County.
State plans Piney Point phosphate plant cleanup
DeSantis returned to the site Tuesday to announce he was redirecting $15.4 million to pretreat water.
The state expects to put more than $115 million toward closing the site of a former phosphate plant where a reservoir leak set off a wastewater crisis in Manatee County.
Gov.
Ron
DeSantis also said Tuesday investigators are working to determine if legal action can be taken against HRK Holdings, the owner of the old Piney Point site.
DeSantis on April 3 declared an emergency in Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties as a leak in a reservoir forced an evacuation of nearby residents amid worries that a wall could collapse, leading to a flood of contaminated water.
The proposal would require future teachers and other government workers to enroll in a 401(k) style plan instead of the state's traditional pension plan.