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VOL 22 No. 26
April 6, 2022
Suspect arrested in Holmes Beach beating
The 17-year-old was identified as Ellenton resident John William Bartholow, charged in the attack of a Holmes Beach man. BY JASON SCHAFFER SUN CORRESPONDENT | jschaffer@amisun.com
bated toxic cyanobacteria blooms that peaked in June, followed by a bloom of toxic red tide algae that caused fish kills, triggering the cleanup of more than 1,600 metric tons of dead fish, according to the report. Piney Point receiver Herbert Donica, of Tampa-based Donica Receivership Services, recommended a phased approach to closing the Piney Point wastewater holding ponds built on the crest of phosphogypsum stacks less than two miles from Tampa Bay, near two state aquatic preserves. Since the leak was repaired, more than 19 million gallons of wastewater have been removed from the site by trucking and piping it to nearby wastewater facilities, and a system of spray nozzles continues to accelerate evaporation. About 265 tons of nitrogen and 240 tons of phosphate have been removed from the wastewater onsite, according to FDEP. State environmental officials issued a permit in December for Manatee County to build a deep injection well to hold the remaining 258 million gallons of wastewater in the gyp stacks, which prompted a
HOLMES BEACH – One suspect is under arrest and one is still at large in connection with the beating of a 40-year-old Holmes Beach man on March 23. John William Bartholow, 17, of Ellenton was taken into custody by police on March 30 and charged Bartholow with aggravated battery in the attack on Evan Purcell. Another suspect, Cameron Leron Evans, 18, of Sarasota, is at large. Purcell was walking his dog with his 10-year-old niece on the evening of March 23 when he came upon some teenagers breaking bottles, drinking alco- Evans hol and vandalizing Anna Maria Elementary School property, according to Holmes Beach police. Purcell yelled at the group to stop what they were doing, which resulted in the teens becoming aggressive. Although Purcell waived a pocketknife fearing for his safety, it was not a deterrent to the teens, who allegedly knocked him to the ground and beat him severely, including an assault with a wooden object, possibly a skateboard. According to Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, police arrived on the scene around 9 p.m. to find Purcell unconscious on the ground and the assailants gone. The victim was taken to Blake Hospital in stable condition, but suffering from multiple serious injuries. Although there was no video footage of the incident, the suspect vehicle was identified by the city’s license plate recognition camera as a white Kia Sportage. Tokajer also said there were cans and broken bottles left at the scene that could be used to obtain DNA and fingerprints. He stressed that these were not students of Anna Maria Elementary, and no
SEE PINEY POINT, PAGE 28
SEE ARREST, PAGE 28
FILE PHOTO
A 3,300-foot-deep well to contain wastewater is under construction near Piney Point at 3105 Buckeye Road and is expected to be completed by next spring.
Piney Point closure date set A year after 215 million gallons of wastewater was dumped into Tampa Bay from the Piney Point phosphate plant, a state agency has approved its closure plan. BY CINDY LANE
SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
PALMETTO – The environmentally unstable Piney Point site will be closed by December 2024, according to a plan approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) on March 30. One year ago, FDEP authorized the emergency discharge of 215 million gallons of wastewater from the former phosphate plant into Tampa Bay to avoid a potential flood after a leak was discovered in the waste storage system. Surrounding homes and businesses were evacuated. From March 30 to April 9, the wastewater poured into the bay, adding an estimated 186 metric tons of nitrogen, exceeding typical annual nitrogen loads in a matter of days, according to a new report released by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. The nutrient exacer-
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DEVON STRAIGHT
CLOCK tower bell ‘hanging by a
named Officer of the Year in Bradenton Beach. 15
thread’ in Bradenton Beach. 11 NO TAKERS so far in proposed water taxi project. 4
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