PALMETTO (WSNN) – Several conservation groups are suing three organizations over the piney point disaster.
The groups announced, Tuesday, that they will file a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, HRK Holdings, and the Manatee County port authority for releasing harmful pollutants into Tampa Bay endangering residents and potentially harming marine life.
The notice letter comes after one of Piney Point’s phosphogypsum stacks threatened to collapse in April.
The impending catastrophe led to the evacuation of hundreds of manatee county homes.
The FDEP authorized the release of up to 480 million gallons of wastewater into Tampa Bay from Port Manatee.
It was a historic failure that could have been avoided.
“The dangers of that site have been well known,” Suncoast Waterkeeper Founder, Justin Bloom said. “And DEP has had so many opportunities to address those dangers and to close that site for the last 20 plus years. And what’s so disturbing is that it never got done.”
In the end, 215 million gallons of wastewater were discharged.
The groups launching the lawsuit include the Center for Biological Diversity, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Suncoast Waterkeeper, Manasota-88, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation.
When SNN reached out to FDEP, they said, ”The department is committed to holding HRK Holdings Inc. and all involved parties accountable for this event.”
HRK holdings did not wish to comment.
