Piney Point Update – April 8, 2022
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued an order approving the conceptual closure plan for the former Piney Point facility. The plan incorporates a phased approach to expediate final closure. The court-appointed receiver is now moving forward with the procurement process for closure of the first compartment and has published the invitation to bid for this work.
The court-ordered receiver and its contractors have also completed the final step in the repair activities for the previously identified seepage along the south wall of the NGS-South reservoir. The court-ordered receiver will complete daily inspections of the performance of the repair area and DEP staff will continue to monitor site conditions to minimize environmental impacts and to protect human health and safety.
DEP will continue performing its stringent regulatory oversight of the facility to ensure this is the last chapter in the long history of Piney Point. DEP is committed to working with the receiver to ensure that progress toward closure is done as expeditiously as possible.
Note: As the site transitions to final closure, DEP will continue to maintain updates on its public webpage. As a reminder, the email status updates for subscribers will be sent on a weekly basis on Fridays. The next update will be sent next Friday, April 15. Real-time updates will be transmitted if there is a timely update.
Key status updates and response activities (bolded and underlined language reflects changes):
- The site received 0.43 inches of rainfall overnight. Piney Point has received approximately 42.04 inches of rain since the beginning of June 2021. The current storage capacity for additional rainfall at the site is approximately 25 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 3.0 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, 20,062,221 gallons have been transferred. Spray evaporation also continues in the NGS-North compartment and a secondary evaporation system was installed at the site to aid in water removal efforts.
- Approximately 261 million gallons are currently held within 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.
- 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.
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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.
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