Enviro-Net

News Update

DEP files suit against Piney Point property owner HRK Holdings

Staff report

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed suit against the property owners of the Piney Point phosphate mining company.

DEP said the lawsuit will hold HRK Holdings LLC responsible for the leak at the reservoir that released more than 200 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Tampa Bay at Port Manatee.

DEP is seeking a court-appointed receiver to act as a third-party to oversee the closure of the property, and plans to pursue financial penalties including $50,000 for each day it failed to remove water from the Piney Point site beginning on mid-February, 2019.