Piney Point Update – Feb. 9, 2022
Work on the new evaporation system continues on top of the OGS-North compartment of the Piney Point property. Contractors are continuing to set up and assemble the new enhanced evaporation system. Installation and testing of the system will continue through the next few weeks.
Closure of this facility remains the top priority, which will ensure that the potential threat to the environment and surrounding community is eliminated permanently. Water management and removal are central to those efforts.
Key status updates and response activities (bolded and underlined language reflects changes):
- The site received 0.54 inches of rainfall of overnight. Piney Point has received approximately 37.68 inches of rain since the beginning of June 2021. The current storage capacity for additional rainfall at the site is approximately 21.4 inches. This capacity is expected to change with rainfall amounts, as well as adjusted water management activities at the site. At this time, expected rainfall through the end of May 2022 is approximately 10.5 inches.
- As part of the site's water management efforts, piping of water to the North Regional Water Reclamation Facility resumed Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, and to date, 14,480,431 gallons have been transferred. Spray evaporation also continues.
- Approximately 267 million gallons are currently held within the NGS-South compartment. Pond level readings are expected to fluctuate due to a host of factors, including rainfall, water management activities and wind/associated waves in the pond.
-
The court-appointed receiver and its contractors continue to coordinate with DEP engineers and regulatory staff on their response to and repair of the recently identified seepage along the south wall of the NGS-South reservoir. DEP staff are on-site and will continue to monitor site conditions to minimize environmental impacts and to protect human health and safety. The general location of a source of the seepage has been identified through a combination of hydrophone surveys, sonar work, dye trace studies and scuba divers. The court-appointed receiver and his contractors are continuing their work to identify needed repairs and further investigate any other potential anomalies. As part of these ongoing efforts, contractors have completed the deployment of an 8x8X6 ft. box structure that will aid in removal of mud and silt, providing better access to evaluate the identified area. There continues to be no indication of any concern with the integrity or stability of the stack system, and there are no offsite discharges occurring at this time.
- Innovative technology has been used for onsite water treatment since April 2021,and is ongoing under the Receiver’s work at the site. As a result of these innovative water treatment practices, nutrients, including Total Phosphorus (TP) and Total Nitrogen (TN), continue to be reduced significantly onsite. To date, approximately 265 tons of TN and 240 tons of TP have been removed from wastewater onsite.
-
The department finalized its agreement with the court-appointed receiver, supporting his role to both manage and undertake final closure of the site. This agreement was finalized after a judge issued an order on Aug. 25, 2021, appointing a receivership to serve as an independent third party to oversee management and closure of the Piney Point site. Day-to-day management and operations now come from this receiver. As part of the receiver's work, water treatment will continue and all available options to manage water onsite will continue to be pursued in an attempt to minimize the potential need for any future treated discharges.
Residents can find the latest information on the status of the site, response activities and water quality at ProtectingFloridaTogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate.
|
