Piney Point: What you need to know on Monday about evacuations, wastewater dangers Brian Ries and Jesse Mendoza, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Video: Piney Point wastewater breach in Manatee County
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Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of wastewater into the Tampa Bay ecosystem from a reservoir at Piney Point – a former phosphate plant in Manatee County. A leak in the liner of the reservoir has caused a partial breach in one of the containment walls and officials hope that pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater out of the reservoir will relieve pressure on the walls and reduce the chance of an uncontrolled major breach.
What are the latest efforts to avert a breach at Piney Point?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mobilized state resources to fend off a potentially catastrophic spill of hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted industrial wastewater from the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant into nearby homes and businesses by working to double the speed at which wastewater is being dumped into Tampa Bay.
The Florida National Guard airlifted more pumps into the area and officials hope that they will be able to double the current 33 million gallons a day of wastewater they are pumping from Piney Point into Tampa Bay to close to 70 million gallons a day.