Manatee County begins wastewater transfer at Piney Point
Manatee County transferred about 1.9 million gallons of industrial wastewater into a deep injection well the first week of April.
The county has at least another 258 million gallons of wastewater to move from the phosphogypsum stacks at the defunct Piney Point phosphate plant to the well.
Construction of the well was completed in late March and the transfer of wastewater began April 4 — a milestone, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the state agency with regulatory oversight at Piney Point.
“This project is one critical element of the necessary water disposal that will enable the ultimate closure of the Piney Point facility once and for all, permanently eliminating the threat from this site to the environment and the community,” DEP said in an April 8 update on the project.
DEP’s monitoring includes tracking storage capacity for wastewater and rainwater accumulation, as well as overseeing construction activity to eventually close the site.