MANATEE COUNTY (WSNN) – The leak of the phosphogypsum stack at Piney Point becomes direr in Manatee County.
The Manatee County Public safety team and Florida highway patrol shut down U.S. 41 at 113th st Saturday around 11 am, due to concerns over the leaking phosphogypsum stack at Piney Point.
“We’re talking about the potential of 600 million gallons within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” Manatee County administrator, Scott Hopes said.
HRK Holdings owns the phosphogypsum stack. And the attempt to plug the hold failed Friday night. There was an imminent breach of the mixed saltwater from the south reservoir at Piney Point, Saturday.
As the situation keeps elevating, county officials keep expanding the evacuation area. Around 11 am, evacuation notices were sent to those one mile to the north of the phosphogypsum stacks and a half-mile to the south. Late afternoon, it expanded a half-mile west and one-mile southwest to Moccasin Wallow Road.
The situation is fluid, and county officials keep expanding the evacuation area. Hopes says the population density in the area is low.
“I don’t think we’re talking about Katrina level flooding,” Hopes said. “We’re talking about a few feet, an initial sheet of water, and then a kind of flowing of it.
On Twitter, Saturday, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency for Manatee County ensuring it received all the resources necessary for response and recovery efforts.
Later that day, Congressman Vern Buchanan tweets saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says its going to help and get “boots on the ground” In Manatee County.
“We’re all just trying to ensure we have an accurate projection of the flow and we need to mitigate so we can still control even with an uncontrolled breach,” Hopes said. “We still have some level of control of where the water is directed.”
The leaking pond contains 77 acres of water about 25 feet deep.
As of this report, HRK holdings has already released several million gallons of supply leaving 480 million gallons in the leaking pond. There are three ponds in the area with a total of almost 800 million gallons.
“We were concerned because it’s close proximity to our homes.”
David Barron lives nearby and says he trusts the officials to keep him safe.
“A lot of people are very overly concerned, but as far as an overall thing, they have a handle on it.”
But, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says the wastewater could do damage to our environment linked to red tide and algae blooms. They say it isn’t technically “toxic,” but it does contain high levels of nutrients mixed with saltwater.
If you’re a Manatee County resident, officials are asking you to call 3-1-1 for questions about the evacuation zone related to Piney Point. They say to reserve 911 for police, medical or fire assistance.
County officials plan to update everyone on the fluid situation tomorrow at 2 pm in a press conference.
