Fertilizer plant leak leads to massive sinkhole in Florida
Source: CBS News
TAMPA, FLA. More than 200 million gallons of contaminated waste water from a fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the states main underground sources of drinking water after a massive sinkhole opened up beneath a storage pond, a phosphate company said Friday.
Mosaic, the worlds largest supplier of phosphate, said the hole opened up beneath a pile of waste material called a gypsum stack. The 215-million gallon storage pond sat atop the waste mineral pile. The company said the sinkhole is about 45 feet in diameter.
The sinkhole, discovered by a worker on Aug. 27, is believed to reach down to the Floridan aquifer, the company said in a news release. Aquifers are vast, underground systems of porous rocks that hold water and allow water to move through the holes within the rock.
According to the University of Florida, its the principal source of groundwater for much of the state, and the cities of Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Tampa, and St. Petersburg all rely on it. The aquifer also supplies water to thousands of domestic, industrial and irrigation wells throughout the state.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fertilizer-plant-leak-leads-to-massive-sinkhole-in-florida/
And of course the company is telling people there's nothing to worry about, nobody's at risk.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)...
It says there is no risk to the public, as the leak has not reached private water supplies.
"Groundwater moves very slowly," senior Mosaic official David Jellerson was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
However, Jacki Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told Reuters news agency: "It's hard to trust them when they say 'Don't worry,' when they've been keeping it secret for three weeks."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37390562
TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,154 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts)MowCowWhoHow III
(2,103 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)A preview of what we will get if Trump wins.
procon
(15,805 posts)When Republicans promise their voters that they will get rid of all those job killing regulations, doesn't anyone ever think about what the consequences will mean? Most of those regulations are about health and safety issues, and here's another example of what happens when the state officials kowtow to corporate cash over the wellbeing of their own citizens.
But those same loyal Republican voters who are looking at their contaminated water supply will continue putting the same crooks back into office.
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)I would not call it a typical sinkhole. sulfuric acid is one of the main reasons this gyp-stack failed, the pond on the hill in the link below at the top of the photo is the gyp-stack.
here are 5 sulphuric acid plants at new wales plant which is the main cause of breach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Valley
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mosaic-New+Wales/@27.8443277,-82.1724108,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb95ef0a245d5744a!8m2!3d27.8443277!4d-82.0498446
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)36 holes. Very, very good.