wastewater

A computer model that's been used to track red tide and Tampa Bay's response to Hurricane Irma is now being adapted to follow the dispersal of contaminated runoff from the old phosphate plant.

Between the governor's allocations and funding projections from the Florida Legislature, Piney Point could cost the state more than $115 million to clean up and shutdown.

The state expects to put more than $115 million toward closing the site of a former phosphate plant where a reservoir leak set off a wastewater crisis in Manatee County. Gov. Ron DeSantis also said Tuesday investigators are working to determine if legal action can be taken against HRK Holdings, the owner of the old Piney Point site.

Workers will continue to identify whether there are any additional separations of the liner that resulted in millions of gallons of wastewater flowing from the reservoir.

Data on nitrates and phosphate will be important when determining the spill’s effect on Tampa Bay.

The state had been releasing up to 50 million gallons a day from the reservoir. The flow is now down to 5 million gallons a day, which will be treated before it enters Tampa Bay.

The Florida Senate on Wednesday backed starting to pay for critical repairs of a reservoir at a troubled former phosphate plant in Manatee County and bumped up proposed spending on affordable housing. The Senate made the decisions as it approved an initial $95 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that will start July 1. But the plan is considered only a starting point for negotiations with the House, which has offered a $97 billion proposal.

Acting Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes says it appears workers at the site have been able to bring the situation under control.

The hope is that the additional 26 pumps would increase the amount of water being removed from the plan to up to 100 million gallons a day.

The Senate would use funds received through the American Rescue Plan. Senate President Wilton Simpson said it is "a catastrophe waiting to happen for too long."

Additional pumps should double the amount of water that can be taken from of the retention pond. Rep. Vern Buchanan said the problems at the processing plant are "something that's been going on for too long."

Emergency crews are racing to drain millions of gallons of wastewater at Piney Point, an abandoned phosphate plant near Tampa Bay. A leak has prompted evacuation orders and environmental concerns.