Florida lawmakers plan $200M to clean, close leaky reservoir
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers have proposed spending $200 million to clean up and close the wastewater reservoir that triggered evacuations of home and businesses amid fears it would burst open and cause massive flooding.
But it was not immediately clear how officials plan to tackle the huge engineering challenge.
The state Senate president, Republican Wilton Simpson, said a legislative committee on Wednesday will take up an amendment to use federal money for the project. Its sponsor is Sen. Jim Boyd, a Republican from Bradenton where the Piney Point reservoir is located.
“This has been a catastrophe waiting to happen for too long,” Simpson said in a statement. “We don't want to be talking about this problem again in five, 10 or 20 years.”
A House committee is also expected to consider a similar bill Wednesday.
Under the proposals, the money would come from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package signed into law in March by President Joe Biden.
“This is a huge step forward for our community,” Boyd said.
More than 300 homes were evacuated as well as local businesses when the reservoir holding millions of gallons of water appeared poised to burst open, potentially causing widespread flooding.
The homes and businesses are still under evacuation orders, but Manatee County authorities on Tuesday said a major highway near the site, U.S. 41, would be reopened.
Nikki Fried, the state commissioner of the Agriculture and Consumer Services Department, toured the site Tuesday and told reporters the situation appears to have stabilized.
“It seems like this is under control, as much as something like this could be under control,” said Fried, a Democrat. “We need to take immediate action to fix this.”
The reservoir, and two others...