The Florida governor has declared a state of emergency after a major leak in a large wastewater storage pond threatened with flooding roads and exploiting a system that stores contaminated water
MIAMI – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a major leak in a sewage pond that threatened to flood roads and blow up a system that stores contaminated water .
Florida officials ordered more than 300 homes to be evacuated and a road closed on Saturday near the large reservoir in the Tampa Bay area, north of Bradenton.
Residents living around the Piney Point Reservoir received an alert via text message saying they were leaving the area immediately because the collapse was “imminent.” Authorities expanded the evacuation area later Saturday to include more homes, but said they had no plans to open shelters.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a rupture was detected on Friday in one of the walls of a 33-acre (77-acre) pond that is 8 feet deep and contains millions of gallons of water that they contain phosphorus and nitrogen from an ancient phosphate plant.
Officials brought rocks and materials to cover the hole in the raft Friday through Saturday, but the attempt failed.
Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a news conference Saturday that the most pressing concern is that water could flood the area, which he said was agricultural and sparsely populated.
“We’re talking about the potential of about 600 million gallons (2.3 billion gallons) in a matter of seconds and minutes, leaving the retention pool and circling around,” Hopes said.
Workers have been pumping thousands of gallons per minute at the site to reduce the volume in case the pond explodes. Pumping the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days. Others have been working to chart the path to control how water flows from the lake to Tampa Bay.
DeSantis ’state of emergency statement assigns more bombs and cranes to the area. The owner, HRK Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
The pond where the leak was discovered is in the former Piney Point phosphate mine, sitting on a pile of phosphogypsum, a waste product from the manufacture of radioactive fertilizers. It contains small amounts of radium and uranium naturally, and the batteries can also release large concentrations of radon gas.
Hope says that if the pond sinks, there is a risk that it could destabilize the walls of other areas of the plant.
“The pond is basically salt water. Yesterday we saw ducks, there are snooks swimming in there. It is to keep life wild. That’s not the case with the other two pools, ”he said, adding that wastewater from the other ponds should be treated to reduce the content of ammonium and other materials.
The executive order to declare a state of emergency said the unfinished structure contained 1.8 billion gallons of seawater mixed with process water and landfill materials from the former fertilizer manufacturing plant.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried urged the governor in a letter to convene an emergency session of the state cabinet to discuss a plan, adding that this property has seen similar leaks in the past.
“The immediate evacuation of residents, the disruption of families over the Easter weekend and the possible environmental catastrophe require the attention and action of elected leaders across the state of Florida,” Fried said.
In 2016, more than 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater from another fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the state’s major aquifers after a massive hole in a pond was opened. of a stack of phosphogypsums.
There are at least 70 piles of gypsum in the United States and about 27 in Florida, mostly in the Midwest Florida region. Sewage stored in gypsum piles cannot be seen from the ground, as the piles surrounding the structure can reach up to 150 meters.