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MANATEE COUNTY – Manatee County will pay nearly $18 million to treat the contaminated water at Piney Point.

The payment is expected to be one of the final expenses the county has to approve in its effort to close the former phosphate facility. That’s according to the Bradenton Herald.

The Manatee County Commission voted unanimously to approved the agreement to build this facility to treat the water. The county agreed to make the up-front payment, but the entire cost of the pre-treatment center is expected to be fully reimbursed in a partnership with the state of Florida. In 2021, the Florida legislature approved $100 million toward the site’s closing.

Piney Point began leaking March of 2021. To avoid a total collapse, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection released 215 million gallons of its water into Tampa Bay