Piney Point Update - April 19, 2021
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is working closely with state meteorologists to monitor predicted weather events. Field operations teams continue making preparations to manage increased stormwater ahead of early week forecasts of rain and wind.
Teams also continue to monitor the small detachment underneath the steel plate around the clock using submerged equipment. There have been no observed changes in the status of the detachment.
Key status updates and response activities:
- Discharges to Port Manatee remain ceased. DEP is working rigorously to get innovative technologies up and running as quickly as possible. It remains DEP's priority, if possible, to ensure any future necessary discharges are pre-treated to minimize ecological impacts.
- Approximately 196.6 million gallons remain in the NGS-South compartment. Elevation and volume will likely fluctuate as innovative technologies are deployed to initiate water treatment.
- Today, DEP deployed an additional surveying and assessment tool. Third-party engineers arrived on-site to conduct microgravity surveys in the vicinity of the NGS-South compartment to further inspect subsurface features that could warrant additional investigation.
- DEP continues to monitor and sample surrounding waterways following previous discharges. At this time, bloom conditions have been observed in the localized area of previous discharges. To date, results have ranged from non-detect to trace (0.34 ppb) levels of cyanotoxins. DEP’s interactive water quality dashboard details sampling locations and corresponding results to evaluate any environmental impact. Results will continue to be posted as soon as they are available.
- There are no reported fish kills in the area.
Residents can find the latest information on the status of the site and response activities at ProtectingFloridaTogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate.
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