Tue, Apr 06, 2021 page7

• Florida races to avoid pond failure

  ‘CATASTROPHIC’: Wastewater in a pond near an old phosphate plant is acidic, but not toxic, a local official said, adding that a leak was first discovered last month

  • AP, PALMETTO, Florida
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  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday said that crews are working to prevent the collapse of a large wastewater pond in the Tampa Bay area while evacuating the area to avoid a “catastrophic flood.”

  Manatee County officials said the latest models show that a breach at the old phosphate plant reservoir has the potential to gush out 1.3 billion liters of water in a matter of minutes, risking a 6m-high wall of water.

  “What we are looking at now is trying to prevent and respond to, if need be, a real catastrophic flood situation,” DeSantis told a news conference after flying over the old Piney Point phosphate mine.

  

  Wastewater ponds near the old Piney Point phosphate mine are pictured on Saturday in Bradenton, Florida.

  Photo: AP

  Authorities have closed off portions of the US Highway 41 and ordered evacuations of 316 homes. Some families were placed in local hotels.

  Manatee County Sheriff’s officials began evacuating about 345 inmates from the first floor of a local jail about 1.6km away from the 31-hectare pond on Sunday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

  Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said models show the area could be covered with between 30cm to 1.5m of water, and the second floor is 3m above ground.

  County officials said well water remains unaffected and there is no threat to Lake Manatee, the area’s primary source of drinking water.

  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the water in the pond is primarily salt water mixed with wastewater and storm water.

  It has elevated levels of phosphorous and nitrogen, and is acidic, but not expected to be toxic, the agency said.

  Crews have been discharging water since the pond began leaking last month. On Friday, a significant leak that was detected escalated the response and prompted the first evacuations and a declaration of a state of emergency on Saturday.

  A portion of the containment wall in the reservoir shifted, leading officials to think a collapse could occur at any time.

  Hopes on Sunday said that with new state resources, crews would be nearly doubling the amount of water being pumped out of the pond and taken to Port Manatee.

  About 83,000 liters of water are being discharged per minute and Hopes said he expects the risk of collapse to decrease by today.

  Early on Sunday, officials saw an increase of water leaking out, but Hopes said it seems to have plateaued.

  The water running out on its own is going to Piney Point creek and into Cockroach Bay, an aquatic preserve in the Tampa Bay north of the facility.

  “Looking at the water that has been removed and the somewhat stability of the current breach, I think the team is much more comfortable today than we were yesterday,” he said. “We are not out of the critical area yet.”

  Hopes said he could not rule out that a full breach could destabilize the walls of the other ponds at the Piney Point site.

  The ponds sit in stacks of phosphogypsum, a solid radioactive byproduct from manufacturing fertilizer.

  State authorities said the water in the breached pond is not radioactive.

  But the EPA says too much nitrogen in the wastewater causes algae to grow faster, leading to fish kills. Some algal blooms can also harm humans who come into contact with polluted waters, or eat tainted fish.
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