Watch live drone video from the Piney Point site:
PALMETTO -- The Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection are re-examining the situation at the Piney Point wastewater storage facility after a drone with thermal sensors detected a potential second breach in the phospogypsum stack that's been leaking since last week.
Jake Sauer with the county says the potential breach was detected around two Monday morning. Drones are now flying over the site every hour. Watch live drone video from the Piney Point site:
Also at a county news conference, area congressman Vern Buchanan talked about the increased federal presence at the site, including the Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency.
With the Corps of Engineers, there are now on-site engineers as opposed to third party engineers hire by the property owner, HRK Holdings.
Buchanan said he was "angry" about the wastewater site and the forced discharge of water into the Bay, that seeing water dumped into the Bay made him "sick", and that he would push hard for a permanent solution.
County administrator Scott Hopes says that with new pumps supplied by the state, pumping capacity will double from 35 million gallons a day to between 75 and 100 million gallons per day. The plan is to pump out enough water into the Bay to relieve pressure on the berm.
Watch live drone video from the Piney Point site:
Photo: Manatee County Government