Commissioner Nikki Fried to Governor: Convene Cabinet for Piney Point Emergency

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, an independently-elected member of the Florida Cabinet, wrote to the Governor requesting he convene an emergency meeting of the Florida Cabinet to discuss the Easter weekend evacuation of Manatee County residents and imminent environmental disaster at the abandoned Piney Point phosphate mine. Sudden pressure and leakage of a phosphogypsum stack and radioactive wastewater reservoir may cause the uncontrolled release of nearly 500 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay and surrounding lands and waters.

In the letter, Fried details how previously-known poor maintenance by current and former phosphate mine owners have created a dangerous situation for local residents, communities, and even state-managed lands and waters.

The letter, which may be downloaded here, and read here on Twitter, reads as follows:

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The Honorable Ron DeSantis
Governor
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001

April 3, 2021

Governor DeSantis,

As you are aware, Manatee County officials have declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of local residents due to an imminent environmental disaster at the abandoned Piney Point phosphate mine. This was triggered by the sudden leakage of a phosphogypsum stack and potential impending breach of a reservoir containing nearly 500 million gallons of contaminated, radioactive wastewater – neither of which are the property’s first.

For more than fifty years, this Central Florida mining operation has caused numerous human health and environmental disasters and incidents, including evacuations from sulfuric acid leaks, deaths of multiple employees, the release of more than 1 billion gallons of contaminated wastewater, and ongoing, regular gypsum stack and reservoir leaks from poor construction and maintenance that released heavy metals and pollutants into the region’s water and soil.

There have been numerous, well-documented failures – which continue today – of the property’s reservoir liner, including leaks, poor welds, holes, cracks, and weaknesses that existed prior to purchase by the current owner, HRK Holdings, and exacerbated since. According to reports, the phosphogypsum stacks and wastewater retention are at imminent risk of breaking apart under pressure and discharging, uncontrolled, hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive wastewater into Tampa Bay, flooding local communities and state-managed lands and waters.

The immediate evacuation of residents, disruption of families during Easter weekend, and potential environmental catastrophe requires the attention and action of Florida’s statewide elected leadership. Given the potential impact not only to Floridians, but also to state-owned lands, I hereby request that you convene an emergency session of the Florida Cabinet, in person or telephonic, to discuss a plan for remediation actions with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, considering Cabinet members’ Board of Trustees capacity related to the Bureau of Public Land Administration.

Sincerely,

Nicole Fried
Commissioner of Agriculture

cc:       Kyle Troop, Director of Cabinet Affairs, Department of Agriculture
            Beau Beaubien, Director of Cabinet Affairs, Executive Office of the Governor
            Erin Sumpter, Director of Cabinet Affairs, Department of Legal Affairs
            Robert Tornillo, Director of Cabinet Affairs, Department of Financial Services

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