Gypsum plant leaking toxic water into Tampa Bay...Cargill again.

[madfloridian]

Has this been covered on the national news? I have had power off so much, I don't know. This is the company that Jeb let off the hook I think, and decided that taxpayers could foot the bill. Some lady speaking for the state almost had words with a Tampa news anchor...said they were being too "rough" on the state. She blamed it on the hurricane, but the Jeb has known this for ages!! They tried to dump it in the Gulf of Mexico, but it kept leaking.

http://www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2004/09/040905gypsum.shtml

Hurricane opens breach in gypsum stack; acidic sludge pouring out.

GIBSONTON - The longtime fears of many bay area environmentalists could be coming true because of a breach in a gypsum stack caused by Hurricane Frances.

Sunday afternoon, the storm ripped a hole in a retaining wall at the Cargill gypsum stack in Gibsonton, allowing highly acidic gypsum sludge to pour from within its holding pit.

Action News footage showed a white river of the sludge racing down the side of the retaining wall like a lava flow from an erupting volcano. Initial reports placed the amount of leaking sludge at 120 million gallons, but Hillsborough County administrator Pat Bean later insisted that the amount was much smaller, closer to 18,000 gallons.

The gypsum sludge was tested by local officials as having a pH value of 1, the second-most acidic on the scale and strong enough to cause severe burns to anyone who comes in contact with it. In addition, such pH levels could prove toxic to aquatic ecosystems; the sludge was running into Archie Creek, a tributary of Hillsborough Bay.

Neighbors were concerned that the spill could have a dramatic effect on the area....." END SNIP

If this has not been covered on National News, then it is being hushed up again. Maybe some folks could help pass it around. I am afraid we might lose power or cable again.

[burrowowl]

1. Damn

that is acidic. Why didn't the fucktards neutalize it?

[xray s]

3. because the pile is really really really big

here is a picture of a typical gypsum pile. They tower hundreds of feet high and cover square miles.

[burrowowl]

4. Just found some interesting stuff

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/condemo/wallboard/default.htm

Drywall is the principal wall material used in the United States for interior purposes. It is made of a sheet of gypsum covered on both sides with a paper facing and a paperboard backing. Drywall can be recycled into new products, thereby:

* Creating business opportunities.
* Saving money for builders, contractors, and home renovators.
* Helping local governments meet their goal of reducing disposal by 50 percent.

Drywall is also referred to as gypsum board, wallboard, plasterboard, gypboard, and rock. Gypsum is calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O), a naturally occurring mineral that is mined in dried ancient sea beds. Some commonly heard names for drywall are actually brand names: Sheetrock® is a registered trademark of U.S. Gypsum Company; Gyproc® is a registered trademark of Domtar Gypsum.
Problems of Traditional Handling Methods

Landfill: Hydrogen sulfide gas may be produced when landfilling gypsum, particularly in a wet climate. Several conditions are required, including a moist, anaerobic environment and a low pH. Hydrogen sulfide gas is toxic at high concentrations (~1,000 parts per million) and has a foul, rotten-egg odor. Several communities in Canada do not accept drywall at landfills for this reason.

Incineration: Incineration may produce toxic sulfur dioxide gas. (Drywall is not incinerated in California.)

Not good if not properly disposed of either.

[xray s]

5. The gypsum in the Florida stack has some radioactivity too

Not high amounts, but limits its uses for drywall. It is a by product of phosphate fertilizer production.

[xray s]

7. Here is a great source of info

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q629.html

Radium-226 activity concentrations in PG stacks produced by the wet phosphoric acid process fall within the range of 10 to 1,300 Bq/kg with daughter nuclides also in that range. The radon emanation factor is typically about 0.2. In 1992, the EPA ruled that PG intended for most applications, including agricultural and construction use, must have a certified average 226Ra concentration of no greater than 370 Bq/kg. Consequently, most of the PG produced in the United States is prohibited from use and is stockpiled in stacks. In theory, the 226Ra concentration of 370 Bq/kg yields an effective dose of about 1 mSv/y through the significant pathways. This effective dose limit is estimated using an index based on not only the 226Ra activity concentration, but also those of 232Th and 40K as well. Typical PG from many parts of the world will exceed this index, as do several building materials of nonphosphatic origin.

In Florida alone, more than 900 million tons of PG are stacked in more than 25 stacks. Thirty million new tons of PG are produced each year. Most of that PG is restricted by the EPA for any application. Many products could be made from phosphogypsum that is under the EPA radioactivity limit or if the basis for that limit is reviewed and revised. Some examples are soil amendments (for the sulfur), vitrification for glass and ceramic products (roofing tiles, etc.), roadbeds, landfill cover, and oyster cultch.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. It's OK... Florida isn't really all that big on environmental issues....

www.sfwmd.gov

www.saveoureverglades.org

[TheCentepedeShoes]

6. Yes - used to live in Tampa

(Temple Terrace) checked in with TBO earlier. Not A Good Thing. You all be safe.

[BeFree]

10. Temple Terrace? Me too!

How in the hell did a hurricane that didn't even come close to Gibsonton create a problem with that stack?

You may not know this, but the first yellow cake plants were built around Tampa in the early forties. Yep, some of the uranium used in nuclear weapons came for the processing plants around Tampa. And what was left over was put in those stacks.

This leak is not the first. And won't be the last. One in Polk county, leaked straight into the ground -- all 1 billion gallons or so.

One reason I left Florida is that it is doomed. And not only because of the phosphate industries...sigh. It really was a beautiful place.

[madfloridian]

8. How many of these gypsum sites are there? Mulberry, Piney Point, Gibsonton

Here is an article about the one in Piney Point and the lack of funding for clean-up for the site. Gibsonton is in Hillsborough, I think. Article is from 2003.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031003/NEWS/310030599/1060
DEP seeks $42.7M more for cleanups

The Piney Point plant in Manatee is one of two phosphate mining hazards targeted

BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER CAPITAL BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE -- State environmental regulators said Thursday that they are asking for another $42.7 million in the coming year to clean up phosphate mining hazards in Manatee and Polk counties left by a bankrupt company.

But officials also said the expenditure will deplete a state fund used for such cleanups and the reclamation of mined-out land, leaving the state with few options for future problems or land-restoration plans.

Allan Bedwell, deputy secretary for regulatory programs for the Department of Environmental Protection, told a House budget subcommittee that his agency is seeking the additional $42.7 million in the 2004-05 budget year to clean up gypsum stacks at Piney Point in Manatee County and near Mulberry in Polk County......"

[Cogito ergo doleo]

9. And they won't have to clean it up n/t

[madfloridian]

11. More articles on this. Still have not seen it on national news.

Dumping Acidic Water In Gulf Is Best Of Dismal Alternatives
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pollution/1273.html

Phosphate Risk: Accidents and Catastrophes
http://www.thephosphaterisk.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=accidents&nav=4

And a forum I found from a fishermen's site:
http://capmel.com/data/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9921