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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Piney Point has not been fully cleaned up or closed. The 2021 emergency ended, but Florida’s phased closure work and long-term oversight continue. The remaining work is compartment by compartment, and the latest detailed progress figures available here are dated—not current measurements.
What does “cleanup” mean at Piney Point?
Cleanup at the former Piney Point facility means closing its former phosphogypsum-stack reservoir compartments, not removing every trace of contamination or completing a single sitewide cleanup operation. Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) describes a phased process that includes managing water and soft material, installing engineered controls, and maintaining regulatory oversight after closure.
The distinction matters: ending the emergency response did not mean the whole facility was permanently closed. DEP’s closure plan concerns the compartments and their long-term management.
What is the status of each compartment?
DEP’s public closure page gives different status labels for the three compartments. Its detailed NGS-South quantities below come from a dated update, not a current measurement.
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| Compartment | DEP status | What DEP reports |
|---|---|---|
| OGS-South | Closed | DEP says closure work is complete. The compartment has a protective liner, a stormwater-control system, and soil and grass over the cap area to help reduce erosion. |
| NGS-South | Ongoing | In its October 25, 2024 update, DEP reported that more than 330,000 cubic yards of soft material had been removed for dewatering and consolidation, and approximately 193 million gallons remained in the compartment. |
| NGS-North | Being prepared for closure | DEP says it is no longer used to store water. Its crest elevation had been reduced as part of closure work. |
The NGS-South figures are a snapshot as of October 25, 2024; they should not be presented as the compartment’s current volume or a current total of material removed.
How are water and soft material being managed?
Process water
DEP reported that 285,282,676 gallons had been transferred to Manatee County’s permitted Buckeye Road underground injection control (UIC) well by October 25, 2024. The county well receives and treats non-hazardous industrial wastewater from the former facility for injection. That cumulative transfer figure is tied to the date of DEP’s update.
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An earlier DEP update, dated April 5, 2024, reported 173,942,404 gallons transferred. The difference between those dated cumulative totals illustrates why a volume needs its reporting date; neither figure is a current reading.
Soft material
DEP’s October 2024 update described soft material associated with Port Manatee Berth 12 dredging being removed from NGS-South for dewatering and consolidation. This is a separate work stream from transferring process water to the county well.
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Separate figures in Florida’s 2025 report
The State of Florida’s 2025 Recovery Plan Performance Report describes a different reporting context: 489 million gallons of mixed process water onsite and about 40 million gallons of rainfall storage capacity. Those report-period figures should not be combined with DEP’s October 2024 NGS-South amount; the sources describe them in different contexts and dates.
The state report lists $185 million in total Piney Point Reservoir Stabilization appropriations: $100 million for emergency response and expedited closure, and $85 million for continued stabilization, water treatment, and closure. These are appropriations described in the report, not a measure of current site conditions or proof that closure is complete.
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What work and oversight remain?
Engineered closure and stormwater controls
DEP’s stated plan calls for removing water, adding fill and new liners where needed, installing stormwater controls, and placing a two-foot soil and vegetative cover sloped to direct clean, non-contact rainfall into the existing stormwater system. The plan also calls for notches in reservoir walls so the compartments no longer accumulate water. These are elements of the closure plan, not evidence that every compartment has already reached that condition.
Permits, inspection, and monitoring
DEP renewed the former facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the receiver on September 5, 2024. DEP says the permit includes discharge limits, including nutrient limits intended to protect Tampa Bay, and monthly and quarterly monitoring and reporting requirements. A permit sets required controls and monitoring; by itself, it does not show current compliance or establish present water-quality results.
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DEP also says it inspects the county’s injection well and monitoring wells to check that they are operated and maintained under regulatory requirements. The closure page describes this oversight as ongoing.
How did the 2021 crisis relate to the continuing closure?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s incident profile says HRK Holdings discovered an indication of a leak on March 25, 2021. DEP’s timeline says emergency-controlled discharges ceased on April 9, 2021, after the immediate threat of a catastrophic NGS-South collapse was abated. Those milestones mark the end of the immediate emergency, not the end of closure work.
DEP says a court-appointed receiver, Herb Donica of Donica Receivership Services, was appointed on August 25, 2021, to oversee long-term closure work day to day, with DEP retaining regulatory oversight. In announcing approval of the conceptual closure plan in 2022, DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton said the approval was “a key milestone in ensuring this is the last chapter in the long history of Piney Point.” That was a statement about the plan’s approval, not a finding that closure had been completed.
What accountability has been established?
On August 13, 2024, the Manatee County Circuit Court entered final judgment against HRK Holdings LLC, according to DEP. The judgment awarded DEP $258,132,438.91: $119,745,000 in civil penalties and $138,387,438.91 in costs and expenses. DEP says it may seek additional costs and expenses after site closure.
What can readers conclude from the latest public status?
DEP’s public closure page labels OGS-South closed, NGS-South ongoing, and NGS-North being prepared for closure. Its latest detailed quantitative update cited here is dated October 25, 2024. The available dated figures therefore describe progress at that time, not Piney Point’s exact water or sediment quantities in 2026. DEP’s status labels and the dated update support a clear conclusion: closure is phased and underway, but the whole site is not described as closed.
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