Acid Water Stockpile Is A Looming Threat ST. PETERSBURG, FL. (WUSF) - Everything from filling barges with the phosphate process water and dumping it in the middle of the Gulf to piping it to a power plant for cooling were discussed. A group of environmental officials from the state and Manatee County entertained several ideas to prevent any more tainted water from being released into Bishop's Harbor, near Port Manatee.

In November, more than 10 million gallons of partially treated wastewater were discharged from the closed Piney Point phosphate plant. That came after a tropical storm filled the ponds to near capacity.

And with the El Nino weather system expected to pelt the Tampa Bay area again this year, disposing of the water has acquired a new urgency.

One of the most likely scenarios revolves around trucking and piping it to nearby phosphate plants operated by Cargill and CF Industries. That could cost tens of thousands -- if not millions -- of dollars.

Janet Llewellyn is deputy director of the state Division of Water Resource Management. She favors the reuse options as the most environmentally benign ways of disposing of the water.

LLEWELLYN: We're concentrating on the options that will not result in environmental impact, so we are trying to avoid discharge to Bishop's Harbor, as well as discharge offshore. So, we're focusing on the options that involving trucking or railing it to other phosphate companies, or to the Manatee County wastewater treatment plant, or in the long term, perhaps to another user who can beneficially reuse the water.

There are 600 million gallons of slightly acidic water in the plant's ponds. The earthen walls around the ponds are saturated with an equivalent amount.

The state wants to get rid of 29 million gallons by the beginning of the summer rainy season. It also has a goal of disposing of another 107 million gallons by September.

But that amount could increase if heavy rains pour forth from El Nino.

Several officials said an idea to use barges that could take up to four million gallons a day to the Gulf may not work. That's because it would have to leapfrog over a number of state and federal regulations. Also, dumping offshore could have environmental repercussions, if winds and tides push it back into Tampa Bay.

Another idea is to build a 14-mile pipeline to Florida Power and Light's Manatee Plant on a lake in Parrish. But some officials expressed fear that the water could seep from the plant's cooling ponds into the lake, which is targeted for part of Manatee County's future water supply.

Other methods are being brainstormed, says Suzanne Cooper of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

COOPER: Several companies have said, "Well, we think we can turn this into an agricultural supplement," or "We think that we might be able to treat it with membranes, to make it more usable," or something like that. And so, people have been requesting, and DEP has been trying to get them, drums of the water, or as much as they need to be able to do the testing that they would need to.

She also believes there may be a use out there that hasn't been thought of locally.

COOPER: There are a lot of great minds around the country and there are a lot of different uses that we don't necessarily have in this area.

In the meantime, the state has decided to raise the earthen wall surrounding the ponds by five feet. That should be able to hold an additional 50 million gallons.

Any of the methods chosen to dispose of the water could ultimately cost in the tens of millions of dollars. The money would come from a trust fund paid for by phosphate companies to restore old mines.

The state's goal is to dispose of all the water and close the ponds. But one state environmental official says that tainted water is expected to seep through the old mined phosphogypsum for another 50 years. And that water would have to be treated.
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