MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The final chapter in the closure of the former Piney Point phosphate mining facility may soon be coming to an end. On Thursday, Florida leaders officially approved Manatee County's permit to create a deep injection well that will hold the facility's remaining wastewater.
That means the hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated water that sits inside Piney Point's gypsum stacks will be buried more than 3,000 feet underground.
Construction of the deep-injection well already began in October. Manatee County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes says drilling is expected in the coming days.
Federal officials insist that deep injection wells pose very little risk to the groundwater that sits above them. However, that didn't stop environmental groups from suing the county over concerns of possible leaks and contamination.
But, county commissioners have said in the past that they have no other choice. Hopes says there are thousands of wells across the country and even five already in Manatee County.
"The effluent here at Piney Point that we're going to de-water doesn't even rise to the level of hazardous waste by the federal government," Dr. Hopes says.
However, not everyone agrees that the deep-injection well is the best option for the environment. Justin Bloom with Suncoast Waterkeepers said, he still has concerns about drinking water and the environment.
"We’re not comfortable with the way that the DEP has been. They haven’t been transparent with the sampling that’s been done there," Bloom explained.
He added that Suncoast Waterkeepers would like their engineers to test samples of the water as well. They haven't been able to do that because the DEP hasn't allowed them on the site or given them access, according to Bloom.
"I don’t think there’s been enough study or that there are enough precautions that would prevent potentially hazardous waste from migrating into our drinking water," Bloom said.
A Manatee County spokesperson told 10 Tampa Bay about the timing of this deep injection well. The spokesperson explained, normally to get a permit approved by the DEP it would take anywhere from a year to 18 months. This permit was approved in six months. County officials said that is because of the importance of this project. When asked about concerns with rushing, the county spokesman said, "time is of essence."
County leaders explained that they need to work quickly to get ahead of rainy season. The county administrator stated there are almost 260 million gallons of wastewater at Piney Point and that every inch of rain puts over 3.6 million gallons of additional water in those stacks.
Once all the water is removed from Piney Point, the plan, according to Hopes, is to eventually convert the site into soccer fields and a BMX bike park.
In March, a tear in one of the 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.
In October, a judge assigned a court-appointed receiver to help close the site once and for all.
As of Wednesday, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says there is still around 264 million gallons of wastewater in Piney Point.