It’s been over a year since 215 million gallons of wastewater was pumped into Tampa Bay to stop a leak at Piney Point, a former phosphate-processing facility in Manatee County.

Explore our timeline to take a look back at the long and troubled history of the site and to catch up on what’s been happening lately.

Background

Phosphogypsum Stack
An example of a phosphogypsum stack located in Fort Meade, FL. (Harvey Henkelman / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)
Piney Point Map
Graphic by Ellen Bausback / DataWrapper

After processing phosphate rock —  a common ingredient in fertilizer  — materials like calcium sulfate, gypsum, uranium, thorium, radium and a gas called radon are left behind along with wastewater at sites like Piney Point. This mixture of solid wastes is called phosphogypsum, and it is normally stored in piles, or stacks. Polluted water is often kept in lined reservoir ponds.

The Piney Point crisis was triggered in March 2021 when a leak in the liner caused a partial breach in the reservoir’s containment walls. To avoid large-scale collapse and lower water levels to prevent major flooding, untreated, acidic wastewater was pumped into Tampa Bay.

While the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) concluded Piney Point’s wastewater was not radioactive, conservation organizations have raised concerns over its elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. Excessive nutrients like these could have been a factor in worsening ongoing toxic algal blooms and fish kills.

Hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater remain at Piney Point, and total cleanup may not be completed until 2024. Stakeholders say proactive measures are necessary to stop this situation from happening at waste sites elsewhere in the state: out of 27 phosphate mines in Florida, nine are still currently active.

Timeline of Events

Click the following link to explore an interactive version of this timeline: Piney Point Timeline

Pebble Phosphate at Phosphoria Florida
Pebble phosphate ready for shipment in Phosphoria, FL. (Florida Memory / Public Domain)

1966

  • Piney Point is first built by the Borden Chemical Company. The facility processes phosphate rock into fertilizer.
ship loaded w phosphorus tampa
A ship being loaded with phosphorus in Tampa harbor. (Florida Memory / Public Domain)

1970s

  • The company dumps polluted wastewater from the facility into nearby Bishop Harbor, resulting in fish kills.

1980s

1990s

  • The Mulberry Corporation buys Piney Point, but the facility faces financial troubles.
  •  A dam breach and heavy rains cause high water at the site and the eventual dumping of wastewater into the Alafia River, resulting in a fish kill.
  • Water from the phosphogypsum stacks leaks underground. FDEP fines Piney Point for these leaking ponds.
One of Piney Point's reservoir ponds
One of Piney Point’s reservoir ponds in modern day. (FDEP / Twitter)

2000

  • Piney Point owners face more financial struggles.
  • Mulberry Corporation’s permit renewal for Piney Point is denied by the state.

2001

  • Piney Point’s owners, Mulberry Corporation, file for bankruptcy and abandon Piney Point. It no longer functions as a phosphate processing plant.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, then FDEP, take over the site.
  • Hurricane Gabrielle causes Piney Point’s ponds to overflow, and more wastewater is pumped in Bishop Harbor.
Piney Point Pond
Another view of Piney Point’s reservoir. (FDEP / Twitter)

2002

  • The state works to close Piney Point permanently and treat its wastewater, but heavy rains complicate the process.
  • The Cargill company takes over and will be responsible for the site’s cleanup.

2004

2006

  • HRK Holdings buys the property and plans to use it as a site to store dredge material, or sediment that is removed from the bottom of bodies of water to reshape land and water features and develop navigation tools, like boating channels. The company is tasked with maintaining the phosphogypsum stacks and the wastewater ponds.

2008

dredged canals in volusia county
Dredged canals in Volusia County. (Florida Memory / Public Domain)
  • The U.S. Army Corps releases a 72-page study warning against storing the dredge material, which it says might be catastrophic and cause a breach in Piney Point’s liner.

2011

  • A wastewater leak caused by the dredging project results in an emergency discharge of millions of gallons of wastewater into Tampa Bay.

2013

  • State officials first consider a plan to inject Piney Point wastewater deep underground.

2016

FDEP Piney Point Featured IMage
Another view of Piney Point. (FDEP / Twitter)

2020

  • Officials warn that there are leaks in Piney Point’s reservoir liner above the water level and that there may be more failures below the surface. HRK, the owners, also identify flaws in the liner.

March 2021:

  • A leak in the containment wall liner is discovered.
  • To reduce pressure on the leak, officials begin pumping more than 200 million gallons of the reservoir’s polluted water into Tampa Bay.
desantis piney point
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provides updates about the Piney Point situation. (FDEP / Twitter)

April 2021:

  • Responding to the risk of catastrophic flooding should the leak become a full-fledged breach in the liner, around 300 homes, as well as businesses and the nearby Manatee County Jail are evacuated.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declares a state of emergency in the surrounding counties.
  • The pumping is halted to allow officials to use technology to treat the remaining water before releasing more. 
  • Florida State Senator Jim Boyd introduces an amendment to the state budget that would allocate $3 million to the cleanup effort, but officials note that total remediation could cost up to $200 million. DeSantis says that he will also redirect $15.4 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s existing budget toward the cleanup. 

May 2021:

  • Environmental groups publish a notice of intent to sue over the Piney Point crisis.

June 2021:

Piney Point april 14
(FDEP / Twitter)

August 2021:  

December 2021:

  • The state seeks to dismiss the environmentalists’ lawsuit, stating they are already doing enough to fix the problem.
  • The permit for the injection well is finally approved and issued.
fdep april 28
(FDEP / Twitter)

January 2022

  • Piney Point still holds 397 million gallons of wastewater. Officials worry about how rainfall will affect water levels at the site.

February 2022

  • Judges hear arguments on whether to dismiss the lawsuits against the state and Piney Point owners.

March 2022:

  • The state approves a plan to close Piney Point. Officials predict the plan may be completed by December 2024.
  • The state has now spent $85 million dollars on cleanup since the March 2021 leak.

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