Piney Point

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^{Piney Point Site Closure Progress}

Response and Closure Activities | Frequent Questions | Timeline | Archived Updates

PINEY POINT CLOSURE ACTIVITIES 

In order to expedite and ensure the proper completion of the closure of the former Piney Point facility, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) requested the appointment of a court-appointed receiver to oversee closure of the site and manage day-to-day site activities. On Aug. 25, 2021, a judge in the Manatee County Circuit Court issued an order appointing Herb Donica as this independent third party. DEP is working closely with the receiver to ensure continued progress toward closure.

As the initial step, a conceptual closure plan was developed by the receiver’s engineers and approved by the department that addresses the environmental protection requirements for the closure work. The plan includes a timeline and strategy for continued water management at the site that is essential to eliminate the current process water from the reservoir areas, as well as details on construction of a closed system that protects both ground waters and surface waters in the area. The closure plan outlines a phased approach with the capping of each reservoir area as water is eliminated from the site, beginning with the OGS-South compartment.

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Once all water is removed from the reservoir areas, the stacks will receive fill material and new liners as needed along with new stormwater controls, a 2-foot-thick soil and vegetative cover system that will be sloped to ensure runoff of clean, non-contact rainwater into the existing stormwater management system. "Notches" will be incorporated into the walls of the reservoirs so that the reservoir areas, once closed, will no longer build up water and will function only to provide stormwater management and control of stormwater discharge rates. This closure design is being integrated into the site’s existing stormwater management system. 

Current Update:

Aug. 9, 2024 

Severe weather associated with Hurricane Debby passed through the Piney Point site this week, producing high winds and over nine inches of rain. DEP has been in contact with the court-appointed receiver and confirmed there is no identified damage to the compartment systems and there are no other water management concerns. 

DEP is working closely with the court-appointed receiver to continue site evaluations and manage water levels. A full site inspection is underway to assess any post-storm impacts.

Key status updates and response activities (bolded and underlined language reflects changes): 

• The site has received approximately 69 inches of rain so far this year. 

• The current storage capacity for additional rainfall at the site is approximately 76 inches. This capacity is expected to change with rainfall amounts and adjusted water management activities at the site.  

• Approximately 193 million gallons are currently held within the NGS-South compartment. This current water level is the result of the ongoing dredging work to dewater and consolidate the soft sediments in the NGS-South compartment. Pond level readings are expected to fluctuate due to a host of factors, including wind/associated waves in the pond, rainfall and water management activities.  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

What is the role of the court-appointed receiver?

The court-appointed receiver serves as an independent third party who is responsible for the day-to-day management and operations of the site, including planning for the closure of the site while managing water to ensure safe storage capacities. DEP will continue its stringent regulatory oversight of the facility to ensure this is the last chapter in the long history of Piney Point. In accordance with its court-ordered responsibilities, DEP is committed to working with the receiver to ensure that progress toward closure is performed as expeditiously as possible.

Has a closure plan been developed for the site?

Yes. On March 31, 2022, DEP issued an order approving the conceptual closure plan for the former Piney Point facility that was prepared at the direction of the site’s court-appointed receiver. 

The plan addresses the environmental protection requirements for the closure work. This includes the strategy for continued water management at the site that is essential to eliminate the current process water from the reservoir areas as well as details on construction of a closed system that protects the area’s ground waters and surface waters. The plan also provides information on the expected timeframes, the planned closing procedures, and the final cover and stormwater management systems for the closed stack. 

What does the closure plan entail? 

Once all water is removed from the reservoir areas, the stacks will receive fill material and new liners as needed along with stormwater controls, a 2-foot-thick soil and vegetative cover system that will be sloped to ensure runoff of clean, non-contact rainwater into the existing stormwater management system. "Notches" will be incorporated into the walls of the reservoirs so that the reservoir areas, once closed, will no longer build up water and will function only to provide stormwater management and control stormwater discharge rates. This closure design is being integrated into the site’s existing stormwater management system.

Has closure work begun?

Yes. Closure work is complete for the first compartment – the OGS-South. The NGS-South compartment is the next compartment scheduled for closure work per the site’s approved closure plan, and that work is ongoing. The NGS-North compartment is also being prepared for closure. It is no longer being used to store water, and the crest elevation has been reduced as part of the ongoing closure work.

What is the expected timeline for completion of closure? 

The closure plan outlines a phased approach, with interim dates for closure of each of the reservoirs as water is eliminated from the site. The OGS-South Compartment is closed, and closure work is ongoing in the NGS-South, which is the next compartment scheduled for closure work per the site’s approved closure plan. DEP will continue to work with the receiver to ensure that progress toward closure is performed as expeditiously as possible. 

What is the status of the Manatee County UIC well at Buckeye Road?

Manatee County is currently receiving and treating non-hazardous industrial wastewater from the former Piney Point facility for injection using the county’s permitted UIC well. DEP is conducting a wide variety of inspections of both Manatee County's injection well and monitoring wells to ensure they are properly operated and maintained in compliance with all regulatory requirements for protection of groundwater resources and the environment.

What is the status of DEP’s enforcement against HRK?

DEP continues to work to ensure that HRK is held accountable. On Aug. 5, 2021, the agency filed a complaint in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County initiating enforcement action against HRK. This action enforces compliance with the state's environmental laws and all of HRK's existing authorizations, orders and agreements with the department.

HRK did not timely file a responsive pleading with the court and, as a result, DEP filed a motion for entry of clerk’s default on Oct. 4, 2021. The clerk for the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County subsequently entered a default against HRK on Oct. 12, 2021.

On Jan. 3, 2023, DEP filed a Motion for Entry of Final Judgment against HRK Holdings LLC. DEP is seeking the maximum allowable penalties under existing laws and regulations and recovery of costs.

On Aug. 13, 2024, the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County entered a Final Judgment against HRK Holdings LLC. As part of this ruling, the court awarded $258,132,438.91 to DEP (including $119,745,000.00 in civil penalties and $138,387,438.91 in costs and expenses). The court also granted DEP the option to file for additional costs and expenses upon completion of the site closure.

TIMELINE 

• Sept. 5, 2024: Having received no comments or petitions since publication of the intent to issue on July 8, DEP issued the renewal for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to the court-appointed receiver (Donica Receivership Services, LLC).

• July 8, 2024: DEP gave notice of its Intent to Issue the court-appointed receiver a NPDES permit to reflect the ongoing closure work at the site and the required management of non-contact stormwater from the site’s existing permitted surface water discharge. The permit specifies discharge limits, including those for nutrients to ensure protection of Tampa Bay, as well as monthly and quarterly monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure compliance with permit conditions. 

  • As required, the court-appointed receiver published the notice in a local newspaper on July 12, 2024. A 14-day period for parties to file a petition for an administrative hearing began on this publication date.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested a full 90-day review period; this period will end on Sept. 5, 2024.
  • If no petition is filed, DEP will then issue the final permit. If a petition is filed, the agency action is not final until the subsequent administrative proceedings are completed.

• Nov. 27, 2023: The court-appointed receiver and his contractors began the preparation and dredging work to remove soft materials from the NGS-South compartment for dewatering and consolidation as part of the receiver’s ongoing closure work.

• Sept. 19, 2023: The court-appointed receiver and his contracted engineers conducted a final inspection of the OGS area and determined closure work was complete based on the project design and engineering specifications.

• Aug. 10, 2023: The court-appointed receiver announced that C&M Dredging Inc., Dredge America Inc., Petrotech Southeast Inc. and Solmax Geosynthetics LLC were selected as the contractors to complete the first phase of closure work for the NGS-South compartment.

• May 6, 2023: The court-appointed receiver, in coordination with Manatee County, temporarily halted the transfer of water to the Manatee County Publicly Owned Treatment Works as part of collective efforts to focus on UIC operations.

• April 4, 2023: Manatee County began receiving treated non-hazardous industrial wastewater from the site for disposal in its UIC well along Buckeye Road.

• April 3, 2023: Manatee County completed construction of its UIC well along Buckeye Road and successfully passed its inspection.

• Oct. 21, 2022: The court-appointed receiver and its contractor, Forgen LLC, resumed closure work at the at the OGS-South compartment.

• Oct. 7-21, 2022: In order to continue progress with closure of the OGS-South compartment following Hurricane Ian, the court-appointed receiver resumed the conveyance of rainwater from the OGS-South compartment to Port Manatee.

• Sept. 2, 2022: The court-appointed receiver and  Forgen began initial closure work at the at the OGS-South compartment. Contractors graded and shaped the area so that it no longer accumulated rainwater and eliminated the need for future rainwater releases to Port Manatee.

• Aug. 13-25, 2022: Rainwater removal was conducted by the receiver, and the water was conveyed to Port Manatee, which has been standard practice since 2011.

• Aug. 12, 2022: As a result of advance preparations by the court-appointed receiver, Forgen was able to immediately begin closure construction for the OGS-South.

• Aug. 12, 2022: The court-appointed receiver executed the contract with Forgen to begin closure of the first compartment at the former Piney Point facility, the OGS-South. In order to complete the first step of this work, the court-appointed receiver had to remove all rainwater from this pond that had accumulated over the last several months.

• June 17, 2022: The court-appointed receiver announced that Forgen was selected as the contractor to complete the first phase of closure work for the OGS-South compartment.

• May 6, 2022: The bid submittal period ended for work on the first compartment.

• April 15, 2022: The court-appointed receiver began accepting bids for closure work on the OGS-South compartment.

• April 7, 2022: The court-appointed receiver completed repairs for the liner tear on the south end of the NGS-South compartment that had caused the seepage discovered in January 2022.

• March 31, 2022: DEP issued an order approving the conceptual closure plan for the former Piney Point facility that was prepared at the direction of the site’s court-appointed receiver.

• March 25, 2022: DEP received a revised copy of the closure plan.

• March 16, 2022: DEP provided comments to the court-appointed receiver regarding the proposed closure plan for the Piney Point facility.

• March 2, 2022: DEP received a copy of the proposed closure plan that was prepared at the direction of the court-appointed receiver for the Piney Point facility. 

• Dec. 16, 2021: DEP issued the permit to Manatee County for its planned UIC well for Piney Point.

• Aug. 25, 2021: A judge issued an order appointing a receivership to serve as an independent third party to oversee management and closure of the Piney Point site.

• Aug. 5, 2021: DEP filed a complaint in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court of Manatee County initiating enforcement action against HRK Holdings LLC. The complaint outlined injunctive relief, cost recovery, attorney fees, damages and civil penalties sought for HRK’s failure to comply with the following: 

  • Requirements of Chapter 403, Florida Statutes, pertaining to the safe operation of phosphogypsum stack systems.

  • Requirements of Title 62, Florida Administrative Code, pertaining to surface and groundwater standards. 

  • Provisions and requirements of the existing Consent Order and Administrative Agreement that HRK entered into with the department requiring removal of water from the site by 2019.   

  • Financial assurance requirements.

  • In addition, the complaint sought the appointment of a court-appointed receiver to serve as an independent third party to oversee management and closure of the site and the financial management of these activities.May 24, 2021: DEP completed the repair on the east wall of the NGS-South compartment, stopping the concentrated seepage and leaking of pond water.

• April 9, 2021: Emergency-controlled discharges to Port Manatee ceased.

• April 3, 2021: Governor DeSantis declared a local state of emergency that allowed DEP, Manatee County and other response partners to act quickly to ensure access to resources for response and recovery and to abate the threat of an immediate catastrophic collapse of the NGS-South compartment.

• March 30, 2021: HRK initiated emergency controlled discharges to Tampa Bay to maintain the integrity of the stack system and prevent an uncontrolled discharge to Bishop Harbor in Tampa Bay, an Outstanding Florida Water. DEP began monitoring of Port Manatee on March 30, 2021, in advance of HRK’s prior emergency discharges (which ceased on April 9, 2021) to protect human health and safety. In addition, the agency committed itself to transparently communicating water quality information with the public. DEP's interactive water quality dashboard details sampling locations and corresponding results collected from April through October 2021 to evaluate any environmental impact.

• March 29, 2021: DEP issued an Emergency Final Order requiring HRK to take immediate action and implement all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of the stack system and its lined impoundments and to prevent an uncontrolled discharge.

• March 25, 2021: HRK notified DEP of an increase in conductivity and water volume entering its on-site stack seepage collection system, indicating a possible liner tear and leak in the NGS-South compartment. 

ARCHIVED UPDATES