Readers react to the crisis at Piney Point and the threat to environment | Letters to the editor
Manatee may regret Piney Point deep well
In response to the Bradenton Herald’s headline begging tourists to protect Manatee’s environment — “Love It Like You Live Here” —you have to laugh to keep from crying.
The powers that be in Manatee County thought it was OK to dump 230 million gallons of contaminated waste water into Tampa Bay. They also voted to pay over $9 million for a deep well to inject the rest of the contaminated waste next to a housing neighborhood.
So, I believe your headline should read: “Whatever You Do, Don’t Pollute Like the Locals.”
Remember the people who are responsible for these decisions. This could very well come back to haunt our community in a very big way. It could deem these properties worthless.
Do you think these commissioners would have voted differently if the drilling were to be in their backyards?
Bruce Fournier
Bradenton
Save Manatee County before it’s too late
The new Manatee County ad slogan, “Love It Like a Local,” rings of hypocrisy. It is grossly disingenuous. It should be changed to, “Come Enjoy It Before We Destroy It.”
The county commissioners and mayors are narrowly focused on beach tourism. At the same time, they are allowing the robber baron developers to move destructive over-development further east towards Myakka. The development destroys our real Florida: natural plants, threatened and endangered animals and ecosystems that are so unique to Florida. Real Florida is being replaced with a Disney version of a fake Florida with non-native plants, heat retaining tile roofs and pavement, and overpopulation.
Not to mention the phosphate mining disasters allowed to go effectively unchecked or to be swept under the carpet. (Can we justify deep-well injection? Is that effective low risk mitigation?)
The Piney Point waste water dump did not need to be an emergency. Negligence and blind eyes allowed it to become an emergency. Once declared as an emergency, hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic polluted wastewater could be pumped into Tampa Bay as a cheap way to get rid of it. The authorities should have been prepared to fix pond liner leaks that have been a known risk. Remote underwater vehicle robots are typically used in the industry. Also, nitrogen freeze lines are used in mining and tunneling to freeze underground soil to stop a leak or stream. In hindsight, we should have done better with the mining waste.
Looking ahead, we can stop the robber baron developers’ destruction of real Florida before it is too late. Don’t let future generations look back and ask why we didn’t do better before it was too late.
Mark Vanderee
Bradenton
Governments share Piney Point blame
Shame on our entire local government! I have lived in Manatee County over 30 years and talk about the potential for disaster at Piney Point has been a frequent topic of newscasts, governmental meetings and this very publication. After all these years of doing nothing about the situation and even allowing the owners to abscond scott-free, is an affront to everyone in the county.
The peril they have predicted for years is now at hand and the city, county and state officials are complicit in sharing the blame. If you ignore a problem long enough, it doesn’t go away!
Tom Durante
Bradenton
Piney Point threatens Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Watch is greatly concerned for the safety of our residents in Manatee and Hillsborough counties and the health of Tampa Bay as a result of the industrial water discharge from the Piney Point facility.
The “plume” of discharged water, containing nitrogen, phosphorous and ammonia, will eventually move to the open waters of Tampa Bay and create harmful algae blooms. If a catastrophic release of stack water occurs, the contaminants will flow into eastern Bishop Harbor, part of the Tierra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, resulting in significant environmental damage to the shallow seagrass beds, oyster bars and mangroves forests.
Many of Tampa Bay Watch’s ongoing bay restoration projects are located immediately adjacent to Piney Point in both Tierra Ceia and the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserves. We are working with our governmental and nonprofit partners to monitor conditions and impacts to these projects and to the health of Tampa Bay. For up-to-date information, visit FDEP Protecting Florida Together at https://protectingfloridatogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate.
Tampa Bay Watch urges Gov. Ron DeSantis, members of the state legislature and our Congressional delegation to address the long-term environmental implications of older processing facilities on the shores of Tampa Bay and throughout the state. Improvements to the Tampa Bay estuary for the benefit of marine life, residents and our economy made over the past three decades must not be lost.
Peter Clark
Tierra Verde
Protect Florida’s water
Last month, the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 1522 to implement the scientific recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force. Now is the time for the rest of lawmakers to support SB 1522 and its companion bill, HB 1225. Passing these bills is so important to Florida and me.
As a seventh-generation Floridian, the Florida way of life is in my bones. My family and I have had the privilege of enjoying the treasures of our great states natural waterways. I want to see the waters that I have grown up on and loved protected, which is why I want to see lawmakers support SB 1522/HB 1225 which will help to improve our state’s water quality and create long-term solutions to address the sources of pollution that fuel harmful algae blooms and seagrass die offs in our springs, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and all our the coastal waters across Florida.
I still vividly remember the red tide blooms of 2018 that affected my hometown near Anna Maria Island. We were forced away from the beaches and water purely based on the stench of dead fish. It was miserable and lasted for months, deterring tourists from visiting and costing our region’s coastal economy millions. Please help me protect my places like Anna Maria Island and Florida’s waters. Contact your legislators and urge them to support SB 1522/HB 1225.
Katelin Wellman
Bradenton