Water Pumped from Abandoned Phosphate Plant Threatens Wildlife
It’s the kind of risk no one wants to see, but officials believed the other options were worse.
Apr 9th, 2021
Larry Brand, University of Miami
Red tide in recent years has killed large numbers of Florida’s manatees, a threatened species.
David Hinkel/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Millions of gallons of water laced with fertilizer ingredients are being pumped into Florida’s Tampa Bay from a leaking reservoir at an abandoned phosphate plant at Piney Point. As the water spreads into the bay, it carries phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that under the right conditions can fuel dangerous algae blooms that can suffocate sea grass beds and kill fish, dolphins and manatees.
Wastewater pumped into Tampa Bay could cause a massive algae bloom
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Water Pumped from Abandoned Phosphate Plant Threatens Wildlife
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Florida lawmakers budget $3 million to clean up Piney Point and help put it behind us once and for all By Li Cohen
April 7, 2021 / 8:09 PM / CBS News
Piney Point, a former phosphate mining facility that has been leaking potentially toxic water in the Tampa Bay area, may soon be cleaned up and heading to permanent closure. On Wednesday, Florida state senators passed an amendment that would allocate $3 million to clean up and safely dispose of the wastewater that, for decades, has caused anxiety and frustration among locals and environmentalists.
The amendment, introduced by Senator Jim Boyd, allocates $3 million of the upcoming fiscal budget to the Piney Point Emergency Water Treatment Project to safely dispose of wastewater and perform site cleanup. The amendment is part of the General Appropriations Act, which determines the state s budget for the next fiscal year.
Millions of gallons of water laced with fertilizer ingredients are being pumped into Florida’s Tampa Bay from a leaking reservoir at an abandoned phosphate plant at Piney Point. As the water spreads into the bay, it carries phosphorus and nitrogen – nutrients that under the right conditions can fuel dangerous algae blooms that can suffocate sea grass beds and kill fish, dolphins and manatees.
It’s the kind of risk no one wants to see, but officials believed the other options were worse.
About 300 homes sit downstream from the 480-million-gallon reservoir, which began leaking in late March 2021. State officials determined that pumping out the water was the only way to prevent the reservoir’s walls from collapsing. They decided the safest location for all that water would be out through Port Manatee and into the bay.