FDEP: Piney Point discharges to Tampa Bay reduced by 90%

Discharges of polluted water into Tampa Bay from the old Piney Point fertilizer plant site in Manatee County have decreased by more than 90%, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday.

“Today we have been able to turn off the two siphons and have reduced the discharge flow to Port Manatee,” said DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller.

The flow of polluted water to the port is now down to 5 million gallons per day, the DEP said.

The big reduction in discharges of polluted water into the natural environment appears to be another important turning point in the Piney Point disaster, which began last week when the liner in a wastewater containment pond began leaking and a breach opened in the pond wall, causing polluted water to run out the side.