Does Florida owe Manatee County for Piney Point cleanup? What officials say

State officials are disputing claims that they owe Manatee County Government over $23 million for managing contaminated water from Piney Point.

The former phosphate processing plant near Tampa Bay is in the midst of a lengthy cleanup process after a catastrophic breach in one of the site’s holding ponds caused a public emergency and environmental crisis in 2021.

In the aftermath, state officials vowed to shut down Piney Point for good, and Manatee County Government agreed to help by operating a treatment plant and injection well to dispose of wastewater from the site.

But as a crucial next step in Piney Point’s closure nears, questions are arising about who is responsible for paying the bills for the facility.

Local officials recently said that the county has racked up $23.4 million in unplanned costs on the project, and now they are looking to the state for reimbursement.

“We were supposed to get something from the state, yet we haven’t received anything additional,” Claudia Campos, the county’s interim chief financial officer, told commissioners on June 2.

But according to the state agency overseeing Piney Point’s closure, the county has already received everything it is due.

Florida agency says state doesn’t owe Manatee

In a statement to the Bradenton Herald, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) pushed back on claims that the state owes the county any money.

“The assertion that the State of Florida has not lived up to its financial obligations is false,” the department said.

FDEP officials said that Manatee County Government has been paid everything it is due so far. The county has received money through an agreement with the court-appointed independent receiver who is managing the day-to-day operations of Piney Point’s closure.

The reimbursements covered $17.1 million for construction of the water treatment facility and $2.2 million for water management, according to FDEP. An additional $6.4 million fund for water management is also set aside for the county to draw on once Piney Point enters the next phase of its closure.

“The Services Agreement between the County and the court-appointed Receiver addresses all of the funding that Manatee County was expecting to receive for their water treatment and disposal services,” the statement said. “There is no separate state funding agreement with the County for the services they are providing to the court-appointed Receiver.”

Reached for comment, Manatee County Government officials declined to elaborate further on how the $23 million deficit stacked up or why they anticipate being reimbursed by the state.

“We appreciate the State’s continued partnership and the significant work that has been done to address Piney Point and move the site toward long-term closure,” a county spokesperson said in an email. “The State’s response to this complex situation has been substantial, and we value the coordination that has taken place with the Receiver, FDEP, and all parties involved.”

“We remain committed to working collaboratively with the Receiver and the State to ensure the site reaches full resolution in a way that protects our community and serves the best interests of the citizens of Manatee County,” the statement concluded.

‘We’ve done our job,’ commissioner says

On June 16, the board moved forward with a one-year extension to keep operating the well and treatment plant. The agreement will allow Piney Point’s closure to continue on schedule without adding to the county’s deficit on the project, staff said.

Commissioner Tal Siddique said that whether the county will remain involved in Piney Point’s cleanup beyond the one-year extension depends on the state’s willingness to provide funding.

Asked for an explanation of the $23.4 million deficit, Siddique reiterated statements by staff that construction and operating costs for the water treatment facility ballooned over the expected budget, though he said it was “a shock” to learn by how much.

“I think it was a situation where there was no price too great to address the issue of safety,” Siddique said. “But where we are now, none of this poses an imminent threat to us. If property taxes are significantly reduced and an alternate funding source is not identified, I think we will absolutely have to pause the work here, push it back to the state and say ‘Look, we did our part in Manatee County, you need to do your part and make us whole again.’”

Siddique said the county is still piecing together what specific agreements were made, but turnover on the board and among staff since the Piney Point crisis has made that difficult.

“Unfortunately, a lot of it is just word-of-mouth promises,” Siddique said. “We’ve been able to sketch out a rough timeline but not the specific agreements signed along the way.”

Despite that, Siddique stands by previous statements that the county should not be on the hook for the extra millions it has spent on Piney Point, or more millions in the future.

“I think we’ve done our job at Piney Point, and we have more pressing and important needs right now,” Siddique said.

What is Manatee County’s responsibility for Piney Point?

Herb Donica, the court-appointed receiver, questions how the county could have gone $23 million over budget on the facility without red flags popping up sooner.

“I’d like to see how they got to that number,” Donica said. “I believe that the county had to approve these expenses along the way, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that this happening.”

Donica said he is not aware of any promises by state officials to reimburse additional costs that the county took on.

“The agreement doesn’t say that,” Donica said.

He noted that his contract with the county covered reimbursement for construction of the water treatment plant, but not the deep injection well, which is housed in the same facility.

The attorney also pushed back on commissioners’ statements that the county bears no responsibility for what happened at Piney Point.

In recent board discussions, several commissioners have questioned why the county should pay anything toward Piney Point’s closure, arguing that the county did not create the problem.

But Donica said the county’s use of the largest holding pond at Piney Point to dump dredging waste from Port Manatee in 2011 was a significant factor in the liner tear that led to the 2021 breach.

Donica stressed that whoever winds up paying, state and local government need to ensure the work to close Piney Point is completed.

“They can’t let this problem reoccur. The damage it would do is incalculable,” Donica said.

County officials say they hope to recover the shortfall through the Florida Legislature and have begun discussions with area lawmakers.

“That is certainly going to be something you will see in our legislative priorities for next year, to secure commitments from the state to make us whole again,” Siddique said. “We absolutely need to do it.”