The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said that they found no evidence of a second breach at the 77-acre Piney Point reservoir in Manatee County, which has been leaking contaminated wastewater.
Last week, officials become concerned that the reservoir could burst, sending contaminated floodwater into surrounding neighborhoods. They ordered 300 people to evacuate from their homes and closed a nearby highway as a precaution.
The Piney Point reservoir was storing wastewater from an old phosphate plant. According to USA Today, the water is as "acidic as black coffee and contains elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrogen."
Engineers have been working around the clock to contain the breach and pump the wastewater out of the reservoir. They have brought in dozens of pumps and ten vacuum trucks allowing them to remove 35 million gallons of water every day. The water is being pumped into the Tampa Bay estuary where officials are constantly testing water samples and working to ensure that algae blooms do not develop.
Some officials are concerned about pumping the water into the estuary because it could kill fish and other wildlife.
“A discharge of this magnitude could have a major impact on the seagrass beds near Piney Point they use to feed,” James Powell, director of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, told the Tampa Bay Times. “At this point, we don’t know what the outcome maybe, but it could cause those grasses to die off or have toxicity levels that could potentially be harmful to manatees.”
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