Leak at Wastewater Pond Prompts Evacuations in Florida

[riversedge]

Source: U.S. News & World Report



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is declaring a state of emergency after a significant leak at a large storage pond of wastewater threatened to threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters.



BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters.

Officials in Florida evacuated homes and closed off a highway Saturday near the large reservoir in the Tampa Bay area north of Bradenton. Residents who live a mile (1.6 kilometers) north and a half-mile south (0.8 kilometers) of the pond received an alert via text saying to leave the area immediately because the collapse was “imminent.”


The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a break was detected Friday in one of the walls of a 77-acre (33-hectare) pond that has a depth of 25 feet (8 meters) and holds millions of gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.

................................
“We are talking about the potential of about 600 million gallons (2.3 billion liters) within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” Hopes said.

Workers have been pumping out thousands of gallons per minute at the site to bring the volume down in the event the pond bursts. Pumping the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days. Others have been working to chart the path to control how the water flows from the pond into the Tampa Bay.................

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-04-03/leak-at-wastewater-pond-prompts-evacuations-in-florida

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stinking Florida!!

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Leak at Wastewater Pond Prompts Evacuations in Florida

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[Sanity Claws]

1. See, DeSatan, we need an infrastructure bill

[Kali]

2. it is ferilizer, while it will be bad, especially in a bay it isn't as if it were toxic heavy metals

or untreated sewage

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/issue

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/phosphorus-and-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/nitrogen-and-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

[Warpy]

16. No, all it will do is cause a bloom of toxic algae

which will suck all the oxygen out of the water and kill all the fish in the area.

Bradenton is crammed with as much tract housing as developers could jam between the sinkholes. An evacuation in that area is really serious.

[riversedge]

3. What GOP Governor DeSantis calls a "possible" breach of "mixed saltwater" is actually 600 million ga

What GOP Governor DeSantis calls a "possible" breach of "mixed saltwater" is actually 600 million gallons of acidic RADIOACTIVE waste that is ALREADY LEAKING and BEING PUMPED INTO TAMPA BAY.

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'Imminent' Collapse at Florida Phosphate Plant Wastewater Pond Threatens Tampa Bay, Surrounding Neighborhoods

https://weather.com/news/news/2021-04-03-leak-at-florida-phosphate-plant-tampa-bay-manatee-county-piney-point


By Ron Brackett and Jan Wesner Childsless than an hour ago



At a Glance

The Manatee County pond holds wastewater from phosphate fertilizer manufacturing.The pond breached Friday and officials warned Saturday it could collapse at any minute.A county official said 600 million gallons of wastewater could flow out of the pond.Florida has about 25 of these wastewater ponds that sit atop gypsum stacks. Others have breached before.

Officials in Manatee County on Florida's Gulf Coast ordered residents living near an old phosphate plant to evacuate immediately Saturday fearing a wastewater reservoir at the site could collapse and send 600 million gallons of acidic radioactive waste into surrounding neighborhoods.

Some of the water has already been drained into nearby Tampa Bay in an attempt to prevent the collapse.

"Evacuate area NOW. Collapse of Piney Point Stack Imminent!" read the alert from county officials about 11 a.m. Saturday.

“There has been further motion with the wall,” Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur told the Bradenton Herald. “We’ve ordered further evacuations and closed U.S. 41.”

(MORE: 2020 Hurricane Season Had One Fewer Landfall Than Previously Thought)

Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a briefing Saturday afternoon that attempts to plug the breach overnight with dirt and stone failed...............................................

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. So in other words "DeSantis is in deep shit."

[Cha]

14. I hope so.. deathsantis

perpetrates enough Deep Shit.

[kristofarian]

15. that Shit you're Standing in? That's

Freedom.

& the Market
knows what's
Right and what's
Wrong and well get
Used to it. all that Shit.

[DENVERPOPS]

22. Not really.............

DeSantis will be screaming at the top of his lungs for Federal Assistance and FEMA to come running!

I wonder if the runoff will reach Tampa Bay and the Ocean??????????

How about arresting the Executives of the “Old Phosphate Plant” and have THEM pay for the cleanup???????

[George II]

5. Anywhere near Mar a Lago?

[radical noodle]

17. Sadly, not close enough

[monkeyman1]

6. Florida water table is not that deep anyway .good luck with this !

where in the hell did they come up with radio -active ?

[torius]

9. Naturally occurring radioactive uranium, thorium and radium

https://weather.com/news/news/2021-04-03-leak-at-florida-phosphate-plant-tampa-bay-manatee-county-piney-point

https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactive-material-fertilizer-production

[monkeyman1]

10. thank's bud - i needed that info !

didn't know that . been around the old sulfate mines in n.m. never to old to learn .

[riversedge]

19. "Wastewater from previous leaks at other gypsum stacks have caused fish kills and algae blooms...."

Yes. but it concentration is not good for fish, the environment, nor drinking water.


.................Wastewater from previous leaks at other gypsum stacks have caused fish kills and algae blooms. Phosphorus and nitrogen are nutrients that feed algae blooms and red tide.

Matthew Pasek, a geoscience professor at the University of South Florida, told Axios that releasing the water would affect Tampa Bay.

"Algae blooms followed by fish kills are the most likely thing," Pasek said. "It’s going to impact the food chain further down the line too. It’s unlikely to cause human damage, but there’s going to be a pretty stinky bay for a while."

The old Piney Point phosphate plant has threatened Tampa Bay before when polluted discharges flowed from the property, the Times reported.

[oasis]

7. GOP Florida Senators, Rubio and Scott will be voting to kill infrastructure

legislation. Whatever needs repairing can wait until a Repblican president can get the credit.

[monkeyman1]

8. GQP STUPID WILL HIT AGAIN ! COUNT ON IT .

[Probatim]

24. If Rs take on infrastructure reform, it will take place as a Public/Private partnership

Where the public bears the burden to build it and the private sector bears the burden of sharing profits among shareholders.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

11. Make that a radioactive phosphate wastewater pond about to burst, stay away from catch of the day

[LogicFirst]

12. God speaks. They don't hear.

[NBachers]

13. Yes, well, once again- privatize the profits, and socialize the liabilities and clean-up.

Capitalistic Socialism - That's the good kind, boys and girls!

I hope the executives and owners had been smart enough to indemnify themselves against any kind of liability or responsibility.

[twodogsbarking]

18. Dana Bash called it

a real shit show. Well.

[UpInArms]

20. Florida declares state of emergency as reservoir holding millions of gallons of radioactive wastewat

Florida declares state of emergency as reservoir holding millions of gallons of radioactive wastewater 'could collapse' at any time

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a leak was detected at an old phosphate plant pond in the Tampa Bay area that could potentially lead to a dangerous acidic flood.

Residents living close to the old Piney Point phosphate mine, located north of Bradenton, near Tampa, have been asked to evacuate their homes. Those living within a half-a-mile radius of the reservoir received a text message alert on Saturday notifying them the collapse was "imminent," the Guardian reported.

State officials said they first discovered the leak on Friday. It was located in one wall of the 77-acre pond that holds about 600 million gallons of water, containing phosphorus, nitrogen, and small amounts of radium and uranium.

The stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.

"A portion of the containment wall at the leak site shifted laterally, signifying that structural collapse could occur at any time," Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jake Saur warned, according to CBS News.

More at:

https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-state-of-emergency-radioactive-flood-fears-polluted-pond-leaks-2021-4

Good grief!

[tonekat]

21. The terms they use are so misleading

From the NYT: The water being discharged is seawater — primarily saltwater from a dredging project — “mixed with legacy process water and storm water runoff/rainfall,” according to a website tracking developments with the reservoir.

Gotta get me some of that 'legacy process' water!

[Stuart G]

23. K and R

[7wo7rees]

25. Reap what you sow.

[oasis]

26. Exactly! nt