MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A new website dedicated to tracking the progress at Piney Point is now available.
The site contains various documents and updates which will offer full transparency on the progress as part of the closure plan.
While Hurricane Ian did add a lot of damage to the area, officials say the plan is still on track.
"You'll find all of my status report all the progress reports also a lot of photographs of what we've done out here, a lot of photographs to show that the wildlife is coming back to Piney Point," Herbert Donica, a court-appointed receiver, said.
In March of this year, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the conceptual closure plan prepared by the site's court-appointed receiver — a huge milestone in the state's journey to close its chapter on the wastewater emergency and its lasting effects.
In March 2021, a tear in one of the former Piney Point facility's reservoirs caused concern over a potential collapse. In order to prevent a crisis, crews discharged more than 200 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Tampa Bay.
The first phase of the closure plan involves stockpiling dirt to close the gypsum stacks. Right now they’re reshaping one of the stacks, so it drains to the west into the stormwater management program. Once that's complete, topsoil and vegetation will be added. It’s a process that needs to be completed in a timely manner.