Categories: U.S. News

Florida Sinkhole Contaminates Water

A sinkhole has opened up at a Florida fertilizer plant, causing about 980 million litres of radioactive water to leak into one of the state’s main underground sources of drinking water, state officials say.

The huge sinkhole opened up under a phosphate fertilizer plant near Tampa, damaging the stack where waste water was stored.

The water contained phosphogypsum, a slightly radioactive by-product from the production of fertilizer.

The phosphate company Mosaic said the leak posed no risk to the public.

The company added the contaminated water had not reached private supplies and it was recovering it using pumps.

Mosaic official David Jellerson was quoted as saying by the AP: “Groundwater moves very slowly.”

However, Jacki Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told Reuters: “It’s hard to trust them when they say <<Don’t worry,>> when they’ve been keeping it secret for three weeks.”

Dee Ann Miller, a spokeswoman for Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, said Mosaic was updating state and federal agencies on the situation.

She said her agency was doing frequent site visits to safeguard public health.

“While monitoring to date indicates that the process water is being successfully contained, groundwater monitoring will continue to ensure there are no offsite or long-term effects,” Dee Ann said in an email to Associated Press.

The sinkhole – about 45ft in diameter – at Mosaic’s New Wales facility in the town of Mulberry was discovered by a company worker on August 27.

The sinkhole later caused the waste pond to drain, and the contaminated water has now seeped into the aquifer.

Aquifers are massive underground systems of porous rocks that hold water.

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Donald Trump and Elon Musk Celebrate Election Victory at UFC 309

Image source: Wikimedia Commons President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his election victory at the Ultimate Fighting…

5 days ago

White House 2024: Donald Trump Wins, Kamala Harris Calls Him to Concede Election

Millions of voters across the US chose to return Donald Trump to the White House…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Donald Trump Declares Victory as He Addresses Jubilant Supporters in Florida

Donald Trump declares victory in the US election as he addresses jubilant supporters in Florida.…

2 weeks ago

Stocks Soaring as Donald Trump Closes in on US Victory

Stocks around the world are rising as Donald Trump appears to be on the cusp…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Kamala Harris Cancels Election Night Party as Path to Victory Narrows

Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and taken a lead over Kamala…

2 weeks ago

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

2 weeks ago