MIAMI (AP) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a significant spill in a large wastewater lake threatened to flood roads and disrupt a system that stores polluted water.
Florida officials ordered more than 300 homes to be evacuated and closed on a highway on Saturday near the large reservoir in the Tampa Bay area, north of Bradenton.
Residents living around the Piney Point reservoir received a text alert saying to leave the area immediately because the collapse was “imminent”. Authorities expanded the evacuation area at the end of Saturday to include more houses, but said they did not plan to open shelters.
This photo shows a reservoir near the old Piney Point phosphate mine, Saturday, April 3, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a significant spill in a large wastewater lake that threatened to flood roads and blew up a system that stores polluted water. The lake where the leak was discovered is in the old Piney Point phosphate mine, on top of a pile of phosphogypsum, a waste product from the fertilizer manufacture that is radioactive. (Tiffany Tompkins / The Bradenton Herald via AP)
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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a breach was detected Friday in one of the walls of a 77-acre (33-hectare) lake that has a depth of 25 feet (8 meters) and contains millions of gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.
Authorities brought stones and materials to plug the hole in the lagoon on Friday through Saturday, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a news conference on Saturday that the most urgent concern was that water could flood the area, which he said was agricultural and sparsely populated.
“We are talking about the potential of around 600 million gallons (2.3 billion liters) in a matter of seconds and minutes leaving this holding tank and traveling through the surrounding area,” said Hopes.
This photo shows a reservoir near the old Piney Point phosphate mine, Saturday, April 3, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a significant leak in a large lake of wastewater that threatened to flood roads and blew up a system that stores polluted water. The lake where the leak was discovered is in the old Piney Point phosphate mine, on top of a pile of phosphogypsum, a waste product from the fertilizer manufacture that is radioactive. (Tiffany Tompkins / The Bradenton Herald via AP)
Workers have been pumping thousands of gallons per minute into the site to decrease the volume in case the tank bursts. Pumping the entire tank would take 10 to 12 days. Others have worked to chart the way to control how water flows from the lake to Tampa Bay.
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DeSantis’ state of emergency declaration allocates more pumps and cranes to the area. The owner, HRK Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
The lake where the leak was discovered is in the old Piney Point phosphate mine, on top of a pile of phosphogypsum, a waste product from the fertilizer manufacture that is radioactive. It contains small amounts of naturally occurring radio and uranium, and batteries can also release large concentrations of radon gas.
Esperança says that if the tank collapses, there is a risk of destabilizing the walls of other areas of the factory.
“The lake is basically salt water. We saw ducks yesterday, there are sea bass swimming there. That sustains wildlife. It is not the case with the other two pools,” he said, adding that the wastewater from the other lagoons would need to be treated to reduce the content of ammonium and other materials.
The executive order declaring the state of emergency said the breached structure has 480 million gallons (1.8 billion liters) of seawater mixed with process water and landfill materials from the old fertilizer factory.
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 disorganization of families over the Easter weekend and a potential environmental catastrophe require the attention and action of elected leadership across the state of Florida,” said Fried.
In 2016, more than 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater from another fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the state’s main aquifers after a huge sinkhole opened up in a pond from a plaster pile.
There are at least 70 plaster piles in the United States and about 27 in Florida, mainly in the midwest region of Florida. The waste water stored in the plaster piles cannot be seen from the ground, as the piles around the structure can reach 150 meters.