In January 2001, Mulberry abandoned the property just 48 hours after notifying the government that it could no longer afford to assure environmental security, and days before declaring bankruptcy.

[14] The site was purchased from the government by HRK Holdings, LLC in 2006 for $4.3 million with the requirement that they maintain the phosphogypsum stacks and contaminated wastewater left from the former operations of the plant.

[18] The remaining property is leased by HRK as an industrial park under the name Eastport, with access to Port Manatee, multiple highways, and a rail yard connected directly to the CSX mainline.

[2] In September 2020, WMNF reported on increasing concerns about rising water levels at the site due to rains and the potential of reaching capacity with just one hurricane.

[5][6][8][1][23] DeSantis toured the site on April 4 and in a press conference stated that the wastewater discharged into Tampa Bay was not considered radioactive, but that it contained phosphorus and nitrogen.

The worst-case scenario he described in the press conference was a 20-foot (6.1 m) high wave of contaminated water flooding the surrounding area and potentially destabilizing gypsum stacks which contain radioactive material.

[25] The commissioners of Manatee County voted to allow the contaminated water held in the stacks to be injected into deep wells, which had been banned when proposed previously by an owner of the property.

[27] In August, HRK Holdings LLC was sued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for failure to operate the site safely.