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Manatee pursues disposing hazardous Piney Point wastewater into Lower Floridan Aquifer

PAM1 In: Manatee pursues disposing hazardous Piney Point wastewater into Lower Floridan Aquifer | Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR) | Protecting the Santa Fe River

PAM1 In: Manatee pursues disposing hazardous Piney Point wastewater into Lower Floridan Aquifer | Our Santa Fe River, Inc. (OSFR) | Protecting the Santa Fe River
Gypstack at Nutrien Mine in Florida. Huge Caterpillar earth-moving machine on top gives hint of size. Photo by Jim Tatum.

The irony that jumps out here is the fact that this very governing body, the Manatee County Commission,  sold out their county for money and some of the same members not long ago voted to allow Mosaic to expand their phosphate mining in Manatee County.  So as they whine about the gypstack, Mosaic continues to mine and produce more toxic phosphogypsum.   This problem is of their own doing and they continue doing.

For money while poisoning their own nest.

Now they want to dump it into our aquifer not knowing what they are doing and what the results may be.  Fluids underground migrate and scientists cannot guarantee where they will go, and the possibility of contaminating our limited lense of drinking water exists.   This is akin to dumping garbage and toxins into the river and out of sight out of mind.  Injection wells are not the solution.

Read the original article here in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum


Manatee pursues disposing hazardous Piney Point wastewater into Lower Floridan Aquifer

Jesse Mendoza Sarasota Herald-Tribune

March 11, 2021

An underground injection well to dispose of hazardous water at the closed Piney Point phosphate plant could soon be built in Manatee County.

Manatee County commissioners voted 6-1 Tuesday to recommend construction of a Class 1 injection well to the Legislature to dispose of wastewater from the Piney Point facility. The water can contain radium, heavy metals, ammonia and phosphorus.

The commission’s vote does not seal the fate of the well project, which is opposed by some environmental advocates. Rather, it commits the county to a direction on its legislative platform as guidance for other stakeholders.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection ultimately would have to approve a project, which then would have to go out for a request for proposal, according to county staff.

“Our legislative priority is not legally binding,” County Commissioner George Kruse said. “I think what we are showing is we are serious about this, we have done our diligence, we are ready to go. This is the decision we have made in terms of how we’d like to see it done. They may go a whole different direction.”

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