Judge says Piney Point operators responsible for 2021 toxic wastewater spill

A federal judge found Piney Point’s operators liable for the major spill of toxic wastewater into Tampa Bay in 2021.

HRK Holdings LLC was ordered to pay a fine of $846,900 on Wednesday. But the company went belly-up over a decade ago.

The judge’s orders gave the company the maximum civil penalty per day for the fifteen-day event, during which 215 million gallons of contaminated water was dumped into Tampa Bay.  

The Center for Biological Diversity said the hazardous discharge resulted in “a deadly red tide that killed more than 600 tons of marine life in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties.”

The Center’s Ragan Whitlock said it was “one of the worst events of environmental pollution in Tampa Bay’s history.”

Three years ago, regulators found a leak in the facility’s reservoir liner and ordered the release to prevent a larger collapse and flooding event.

Whitlock said the regulators took a “reckless gamble” in allowing the facility to operate without a permit for two decades.  

“It is the failure of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to do their job,” he said. “Frankly, I’m not surprised that a corporate polluter polluted. I’m surprised that our state regulators allowed it to happen.”

Following the discharge event, a Manatee County Circuit Court issued an order appointing Herb Donica as the official receiver, or the person overseeing the management and closure of the facility.

“We are happy that the immediate threat to human health and safety in the environment from Piney Point is abated,” Whitlock said. “We do not expect there to be another massive spill from this facility now that it is under the receivership.”

“Receiverships care and there is proper money allocated to its closure,” he added. “But make no mistake, phosphate facilities will always pose an environmental threat.”

In July, the FDEP agreed to a draft Clean Water Act permit designed to enhance the monitoring of the Piney Point facility. 

But Whitlock said since the devastating spill, no regulations have been changed to guard against something like Piney Point happening in the future. 

“Frankly, the amount of destruction in Tampa Bay, the amount of life lost within Tampa Bay’s waters truly is incalculable,” he said. “No amount of money can ever make up for what happened in the Tampa Bay region will be reeling from this for years to come.”

The payments are part of an environmental restitution for hazardous wastewater spill, and the money will go back to the U.S. Treasury. But Whitlock said the amount “pales in comparison” to the burden taxpayers have paid to clean up the site.

“Tampa Bay will be reeling from this event,” he said. “For years, the amount of seagrass lost, the amount of nutrient inundation, the amount of endangered species in Florida, manatees and sea turtles who were harmed from this event is going to be something that will take a long time for the state of Florida to truly wrap their heads around.”