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OriginClear Offers Free Advice to Piney Point Reservoir Owners on Emergency Repairs to Remediate Toxic Waste Leaks

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA – April 09, 2021 – OriginClear Tech, a division of OriginClear Inc. (OTC Pink: OCLN), a leading provider of water treatment solutions, offered to advise at no expense the owners of Tampa Bay’s old Piney Point phosphate plant on the best method to remediate the toxic waste leak and emergency discharge of an estimated 38 million gallons per day into the Bay.

 

Piney Point reservoirPiney Point reservoir Manatee, Florida


Proposals are High

OriginClear also said proposals being offered to remedy the situation were all way too high and the emergency could be remediated at far less cost, which OriginClear said it could accomplish itself at a fraction of what other companies are proposing.

On March 26, 2021, a retention pond at Piney Point was breached and cordoned off. The Department of Environmental Protection reports that while some wastewater has been contained on site, roughly 173 million gallons of untreated wastewater have still been discharged into the bay.

Major Disaster

“This is a major disaster,” said Tom Marchesello, OriginClear Chief Operating Officer, “and it is our duty to help however we can.” He addressed this offer to New York investor William “Mickey” F. Harley III, the listed owner of HRK Holdings, which owns the troubled Piney Point phosphate plant site leaking polluted wastewater.

Marchesello described Monday on WWSB ABC7 TV the longtime practice of allowing heavy toxins to settle at the bottom of the area’s gypsum stacks as “unsustainable.” At the very least, he said the huge wastewater lagoons must still be treated to prevent more disastrous leaks. (ABC7 News at 7 Roundtable Discussion) https://www.mysuncoast.com/video/2021/04/06/abc-news-roundtable-discussion-april-part-2/

300-800 Times the Nutrient Load

OriginClear Chief Engineer Daniel M. Early also reviewed the situation: “The current issue facing Piney Point and neighboring communities is that the nutrient loads for nitrogen and phosphorous, as released, are 300 to 800 times more concentrated respectively than typical municipal WWTP discharge permitted into Tampa Bay.

While much is being done to protect the area from further damage, what remains important is that what should have been done in the first place, which is still needed as proper wastewater recovery. Our engineers want to offer what we believe will be the best solutions to avoid further environmental damage and to engage a real solution as quickly as possible,” said Early.

 

Piney Point toxic waste leakToxic waste spewing from the Piney Point breach


Millions of Pounds of Pollutant

For Piney Point alone, OriginClear engineers believe it will be necessary to remove the following quantities (appx) of dissolved compounds from the water to bring it to a safer level allowable for discharge:

• Two million pounds of ammonia
• 5.3 million pounds of phosphate
• 17.3 million pounds of sulfate
• The pH of the pond water at 2.5 is to be considered highly acidic.

Four Year Cleanup

Based on its internal modular treatment systems that can be quickly trucked onsite, OriginClear believes Piney Point can be cleaned up over 4 years at an estimated cost of $50 Million. This includes the initial equipment purchase of about $6 Million in machines plus the monthly operational support of about $1 Million per month to run the systems and replace filters.

Other solutions may include dewatering and sidestreaming process using the company’s BroncBoost™ Booster Pump Skids. A site like this will require backup redundancy to keep it continuously operating for job completion. You have to plan for a much higher load level of toxic wastewater than is anticipated to foul the filters and machines. Often, they will require a higher level of maintenance and replacement compared to other more normal industries.

Cascading Failure

“While this is an expensive process, it is easily affordable over time in the phosphate supply chain,” said Daniel M. Early, OriginClear Chief Engineer. “Contrast that with the costs of irreversible damage from not treating a toxic liquid landfill that could fall apart at any moment causing a cascading failure of the other nearby pond structures as well.”

“I live here now – this bay and beaches are where I take my daughter too; so, we want to help,” said OriginClear’s Chief Operating Officer, Tom Marchesello. “If this is done right, we can deal with this in my lifetime and make this region safe again before she is a teenager.” With a strong program in place Florida can be an environmental leader and deal with the other 27+ Phosphate Gypsum stack sites in a more unified manner that delivers real results in a reasonable timeframe.


OriginClear Tech


OriginClear Tech

OriginClear Tech is the development, manufacturing, and operations group of OriginClear Corp. Our Tech division focuses on small to midsize commercial and industrial & municipal end markets that need to self-manage onsite systems. We provide next generation Water Treatment Solutions engineered to be stronger, safer, and more cost effective using environmentally friendly materials and process.

OriginClear Tech owns brands that design, engineer, manufacture, and distribute water treatment solutions for commercial, industrial, and municipal end markets. Wholly owned Brand Companies include Progressive Water Treatment and Modular Water Systems. OriginClear Tech brands build and deliver the plug-n-play solutions, products & services for a revolutionary new model of self-reliant water treatment at onsite locations in the United States and International markets.

OriginClear Tech has a long history of developing innovations for Instant Infrastructure and is responsible for identifying leading edge technologies to solve today’s toughest water challenges. OriginClear Tech sponsors partnership relationships and sales distribution relationships to drive more advanced technologies towards adoption and use in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and North America. Our mission is to enable breakthrough water technologies that help make clean water available for all.

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