Environmental emergency in Florida due to …

The state of Florida, United States, has declared an environmental emergency in the town of Piney Point, Tampa Bay, due to the impending collapse of the chemical waste pond at a phosphate plant for the production of agricultural fertilizers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged that To prevent the pond from collapsing, 125,000 cubic meters of sewage containing ammonia, phosphorus and nitrogen began to be discharged into the sea., which could generate a deadly “red tide” of algae. Shops and houses within a kilometer around have been evacuated.

The plant of the company HRK Holdings, which ceased the production of phosphorous fertilizers for the agro-industry in 2001, has remained in the area. two giant deposits of chemical waste of 2,600 to 3,000 million liters, which in recent days had growing cracks in their structures, in which losses had already been recorded.

Piney Point is located on Tampa Bay between two natural preservation areas and the effluents are discharged into the sea which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. “According to site engineers, a controlled release was necessary to avoid catastrophic failure,” DeSantis admitted of the sewage that has already started to flow into the ocean.

The governor reiterated that the wastewater “meets water quality levels for marine waters,” but did not take into account the high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen. Socio-environmental organizations have warned that marine algae grow very rapidly with an extraordinary contribution from these elements, which could generate a deadly “red tide” or algae explosion., which kills fish and aquatic life, in addition to harming tourist activity.

What forced the declaration of emergency was that the plastic lining of the residual pond started to leak several days ago. In case the whole structure collapses could release phosphorous plaster stored near the area mixes with water and contaminates the local ecosystem.

This substance, a residue from the production of fertilizers, is considered radioactive because it contains isotopes such as radon, as well as toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury. The national conservation group at the Center for Biological Diversity has called for intervention by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

“Federal officials must fix this mess the fertilizer industry has left in communities across Florida and immediately stop production of phosphorus gypsum,” Florida director of the organization Jaclyn Lopez said in a statement.

Faced with the danger of a massive spill, Homes and businesses within a radius of the factory, which was expanded to 1.6 km, were evacuated Last Saturday and access to the area was closed, while emergency crews in central Florida worked to prevent a worse environmental disaster.

50 years of disasters for human health

“What we are looking for now is to prevent, and respond if necessary, to a catastrophic flood situation,” DeSantis said at a press conference on Sunday, after touring the area by helicopter.

The problems at Piney Point, however, date back decades. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nicole Fried wrote to DeSantis reminding him that the current emergency was only the latest in a series of incidents. “For more than 50 years, this mining operation in central Florida has caused many disasters and incidents on human health and the environment.he wrote, adding that there had been several previous tank coating failures.

Manatee County Acting Administrator Scott Hopes said authorities were trying to permanently empty the warehouses. “We are not going to repair the liner, we will deplete the water from the remaining ponds and move towards a permanent solution in the future, as soon as we mitigate the current risk,” Hopes said at the press conference.

This will “likely include the filling of these ponds after they are depleted and sealed.” DeSantis also said the company that operated the site, HRK Holdings, must be held responsible for what happened. “This is not acceptable and it is not something that we are going to allow to continue,” he said. HRK did not immediately respond to the request for comment.