ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) – Dam engineers and safety specialists assessing the danger of a catastrophic flood from a leaking Florida wastewater tank determined that the threat of a possible second breach it was not “grounded,” the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said.
Officials had said Monday that a drone discovered a possible second breach in the reservoir, the east wall of which continues to show “concentrated leaks”. But on Monday evening, experts from four government agencies and external engineers concluded that this second place was safe to continue working, the agency announced.
Meanwhile, the agency said dozens of pumps and 10 vacuum trucks have been deployed to remove 132 million gallons of wastewater a day from the Tampa Bay estuary, where 11 different sampling operations control the quality of water and consider ways to minimize algae flowers that kill marine life and make the beach dangerous to humans in the tourism-dependent state.
“All the information on water quality concludes that this water is NOT radioactive,” he tweeted to the agency.
U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan, a Republican, toured the area by helicopter Monday and said federal resources pledged to help in the effort to control the 77-acre (33-hectare) Piney Point Reservoir. , in Manatee County, just south of the Tampa Bay area.
Among them are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, Buchanan said at a news conference.
“I think we’re moving forward,” Buchanan said. “It simply came to our notice then. Now, I think everyone is focused on that. “
Fears of a complete breach at a former phosphate plant led authorities to evacuate more than 300 homes, close parts of a major road and relocate several hundred prisoners to the second floor of the facility.
The main concern is that a total breach of the reservoir would cause major flooding in nearby homes and businesses, officials said. The bombs are intended to drain the water slowly and divert it to Tampa Bay, which could lead to negative environmental consequences, such as the death of fish and the flowering of algae.
Melissa Fitzsimmons lives with her husband and 19-month-old daughter in Palmetto, Florida, on the edge of the evacuation zone. Fitzsimmons said she has been terrified for the past four days since she learned of the leak. While his home is on a hill and the water may not be directly affected if the leak continues to grow, Fitzsimmons said his family is preparing for the worst.
“After 24 hours it increased like a catastrophic evacuation, and we really didn’t know anything until we saw that there was an evacuation and suddenly an evacuation on the block of our house,” Fitzsimmons said. “We’re not in the middle of the evacuation zone, so we didn’t make the decision to leave, but I’m sure we’re ready to go, I’d say with 10 seconds notice, we can get out the door.”
Scott Hopes, the Manatee County administrator, said the additional pumps should increase capacity for controlled wastewater discharge to a maximum of 379 million gallons per day.
“This has become a very focused local, state and national issue,” Hopes said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says the pond water is primarily saltwater mixed with wastewater and stormwater. It has high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and is acidic, but is not expected to be toxic, according to the agency.
Ponds are found in piles of phosphogypsum, a solid radioactive byproduct of fertilizer manufacturing. State authorities say the observed pond water is not radioactive.
However, the EPA says that excess nitrogen in wastewater causes algae to grow faster, causing fish to die. Some of these flowers can also harm humans who come in contact with contaminated water or eat contaminated fish.
The Piney Point depot, and others like this one that store the phosphogypsum by-product, have been left untreated for too long, according to environmental groups.
“This environmental disaster is made worse by the fact that it was totally predictable and preventable,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With 24 more phosphogypsum batteries storing more than a billion tons of this hazardous radioactive waste in Florida, the EPA must enter at this time.”
Dale Rucker, a hydrologist and former editor of the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, says the leak reminds governments to pay attention to aging infrastructure that could endanger the environment and endanger communities.
“Continued negligence can have serious environmental consequences, such as,” Rucker said. “These environmental catastrophes will most likely occur.”
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Associated Press writers Adriana Gómez Lincon in Miami and Anila Yoganathan in Atlanta contributed to this story.