TAMPA, Fla. — The final closure of the Piney Point facility took another big step Tuesday.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection finished its inspection in the morning.
Since it passed, Manatee County can now start getting non-hazardous industrial wastewater from the former facility.
Back in 2021, one of the stacks sprung a leak and threatened to collapse, forcing the state to drain more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water into Tampa Bay.
Officials said in order to keep the public safe, they need to get the water level down and the stacks out. Once that's finished, they said they'll turn their full attention to closing out the stack system.
After the leak, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Department of Environmental Protection vowed to close the facility for good.
