'Imminent' Collapse at Florida Phosphate Plant Wastewater Pond Threatens Tampa Bay, Surrounding Neighborhoods
Officials in Manatee County on Florida's Gulf Coast ordered residents living near an old phosphate plant to evacuate immediately Saturday fearing a wastewater reservoir at the site could collapse and send 600 million gallons of acidic radioactive waste into surrounding neighborhoods.
Some of the water has already been drained into nearby Tampa Bay in an attempt to prevent the collapse.
"Evacuate area NOW. Collapse of Piney Point Stack Imminent!" read the alert from county officials about 11 a.m. Saturday.
“There has been further motion with the wall,” Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur told the Bradenton Herald. “We’ve ordered further evacuations and closed U.S. 41.”
Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a briefing Saturday afternoon that attempts to plug the breach overnight with dirt and stone failed.
He said a complete collapse of the wall along the pond could lead to "600 million gallons in a matter of seconds or minutes leaving the retention pool and going over the surrounding areas."
Hopes said officials think the water would flow to the north of the pond across low-lying areas and down into Tampa Bay. The collapse could also threaten other retention ponds on the site, Hopes said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for Manatee County about 1:45 p.m. Saturday.
Officials first discovered a tear Thursday in the reservoir, which contained about 800 million gallons of water and waste products from the manufacture of fertilizer from phosphate, according to the Bradenton Herald.
pipistrelle wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:45 am
How Love Canal-ish.
But environmental regulations are so yesterday.
Yeah. If there were no regs, those retention ponds wouldn't be needed, the effluent would have drained to the Tampa Bay a long time ago, and there would be no danger now.
No fish either.
And you couldn't use the bay of recreation.
And prolly no safe beaches for miles.
And it would smell bad.
But, we'd be safe.
Kind of.
Maybe.
If you didn't have kids or pets.
Or need your kidneys.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:03 am
by Azastan
bill_g wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:50 am
Yeah. If there were no regs, those retention ponds wouldn't be needed, the effluent would have drained to the Tampa Bay a long time ago, and there would be no danger now.
No fish either.
And you couldn't use the bay of recreation.
And prolly no safe beaches for miles.
And it would smell bad.
But, we'd be safe.
Kind of.
Maybe.
If you didn't have kids or pets.
Or need your kidneys.
It's Florida. The spring breakers will happily flock to the beaches anyway.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:08 am
by bill_g
Azastan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:03 am
It's Florida. The spring breakers will happily flock to the beaches anyway.
See? No danger at all. Party on!!!
I'm headin down the Florida Highway
Lookin for a love get away
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:15 am
by Lani
IT'S A HOAX!!!!! /wingnut
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:35 am
by Volkonski
This is the area affected.
ScreenHunter_360 Apr. 04 08.32.jpg (348.17 KiB) Viewed 6415 times
HRK Holdings is the company that manages the wastewater holding stack.
For scale the rectangular area at the top of the picture that contains 3 lakes is about 3000' by 3000' and covers 200 acres. I do not know which of those lakes is leaking.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:58 am
by Volkonski
Previous leaks have flowed into Bishop Harbor. The endangered residential area is on the right on the map.
ScreenHunter_361 Apr. 04 08.54.jpg (364.77 KiB) Viewed 6393 times
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:48 am
by Volkonski
Manatee County Public Safety Department
@MCGPublicSafety
BREAKING:
@MCGPublicSafety
officials just expanded a mandatory evacuation area around the breached Piney Point reservoir. The original evacuation zone has expanded a half-mile west and one mile southwest to Moccasin Wallow Road.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:13 am
by AndyinPA
The specific area, although the danger zone is expanding.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:24 am
by Tiredretiredlawyer
How long do the holding ponds hold the waste? Does the waste evaporate? Does it live forever? This is way worse than chem trails, isn't it?
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:28 am
by Volkonski
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:24 am
How long do the holding ponds hold the waste? Does the waste evaporate? Does it live forever? This is way worse than chem trails, isn't it?
Right now there is no good way to get rid of this waste. The water evaporates but then rain falls. During heavy rains waste from these ponds is dumped into Tampa Bay. They are pumping waste into the Bay now trying to prevent the walls of the ponds from collapsing.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:30 am
by Frater I*I
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:24 am
How long do the holding ponds hold the waste? Does the waste evaporate? Does it live forever? This is way worse than chem trails, isn't it?
No the chem trails are worse, I should know, I install the machinery
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:37 pm
by Uninformed
Wondering if/when it will be revealed that the instability of the reservoir has been known for some time? It’s normally par for the course for events like this.
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:24 am
How long do the holding ponds hold the waste? Does the waste evaporate? Does it live forever? This is way worse than chem trails, isn't it?
No the chem trails are worse, I should know, I install the machinery
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:39 pm
by Tiredretiredlawyer
Thank you, V. Hubby was researching this.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:18 pm
by Patagoniagirl
I moved from that area three years ago. There is not one person with two brain cells to rub together that hasn't been warning and pleading with officials about this danger for years!
Fuck DeSantis. And all his big-money donors.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:26 pm
by Patagoniagirl
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:39 pm
Thank you, V. Hubby was researching this.
Here is a link some locals are following. Kind of incredible that they are claiming no danger to local water supplies.
What Governor Ron DeSantis is calling “a possible breach of mixed saltwater” is actually over 800,000,000 gallons of mixed radioactive waste water. He is trying to minimize the severity of a natural disaster that has brewing and pushed aside for decades.
Piney Point has been leaking for almost 20 years and instead of fixing the leak, it has been continually and almost annually decided to pay the fines for polluting our bay instead of fixing the problem. Those decisions have lead our community to awaiting the IMMINANT COLLAPSE of the phosphogypsum stacks at Piney Point, which will lead those 800,000,000 gallons of radioactive water to rush into the surrounding communities in the form of a water wall expected to reach 20’ in height.
A storm surge of radioactive waste water.
It is Easter Day, 2021 and over 300 families have been displaced by the disaster. Inmates at Manatee County Jail have been disregarded as humans and moved to the second story of the building rather than be evacuated. And Ron DeSantis had the audacity to come to our town and flat-out LIE to the nation via Twitter.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 3:58 am
by bill_g
This just proves the point there is no reason to wear a mask in Florida. Y'all are dead already. You just don't know your funeral dates yet.
Re: Man-Made Disasters
Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:49 am
by Volkonski
Kim Kuizon FOX 13
@kkuizon
From
@ManateeSheriff
“We will be moving 345 inmates to an undisclosed location in order to free up bed space for the remaining 721 inmates on the upper level of the Manatee Jail.” Worst case scenario they are looking a foot of water on jail property #.
@fox13news
#pineypoint