Sewage spill generates hundreds of evacuees in Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday declared a state of emergency in the city of Tampa, about 450 km northwest of Miami, due to a major spill in a huge sewer basin that threatens to flood the roads. and the bursting of a contaminated water storage system on a coastal and agricultural area.

Operators and specialists conduct controlled dumps of the liquid waste deposit at the West Florida Phosphate Processing Plant, which has been closed since 2001 due to the appearance of cracks and leaks, in order to prevent from decomposing and causing ecological disaster.

Florida authorities ordered the eviction of more than 300 houses and closed Saturday a road within a radius of 1.6 km, near the pond in the Tampa Bay area north of Bradenton. Residents living around the Piney Point reserve, owned by HRK Holdings, received the alert via text message advising them to leave the area immediately as the collapse was “imminent”. Authorities expanded the eviction area hours later to include more homes, although they said they had no plans to open shelters.

According to information provided by authorities in Manatee County, on Friday April 2, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection detected several cracks in one of the walls of the 33-hectare, eight-meter pond. depth, the bottom of which already had a “significant” infiltration. From Friday evening to Saturday, authorities had brought stones and materials to plug the hole in the pond, but the attempt to contain the contents was unsuccessful.

According to local media, thThe reservoir contains between 2,600 and 3,000 million liters of water used in the treatment of phosphates, seawater extracted during the drainage of a nearby port, rainwater and storm sewers. What caused the alarm of the environmental groups.

The company that owns the plant actively participates in the unloading process. About 83,200 liters per minute are removed from the pond, according to Spectrum News. Emptying the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days. Others worked to plot a route to control the flow of the pond at Tampa Bay.

With DeSantis’ declaration of a state of emergency, more resources are being allocated to pumps and cranes in the region. Owner HRK Holdings did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter on Saturday.

The pond where the leak was discovered is located in the old Piney Point phosphate mine, which sits on top of a pile of phosphogypsum, a waste from the manufacture of fertilizers and which is radioactive. Phosphogypsum naturally contains small amounts of radon and uranium, and accumulated batteries can also release large concentrations of radon.

According to the Florida Department of the Environment, this is slightly acidic water containing ammonia, phosphorus and nitrogen, but not at a level that could be “worrisome.” “We don’t think it’s toxic,” an Environment Department spokesperson said in a message to local media.

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