Florida emergency as phosphate plant pond leak threatens radioactive flood | Florida

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  • Florida emergency as phosphate plant pond leak threatens radioactive flood | US news | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/03/florida-emergency-piney-point-phosphate-plant-pond-leak-radioactive-flo

    The pond at the old Piney Point phosphate mine sits in a stack of phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer that is radioactive. It contains small amounts of naturally occurring radium and uranium. The stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.

    Hopes said that if the pond collapsed, it could destabilize other areas in the plant.

    “The pond is basically salt water,” he said. “We saw ducks yesterday, there are snooks [fish] swimming in there. It’s sustaining wildlife. That’s not the case for the other two pools.”

    The wastewater in the other ponds would need to be treated to reduce ammonium content and other materials, Hopes said.

    The Florida agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, urged DeSantis to convene an emergency session of the state cabinet, adding that the Piney Point property has seen similar leaks in the past.

    “The immediate evacuation of residents, disruption of families during Easter weekend and potential environmental catastrophe requires the attention and action of Florida’s statewide elected leadership,” Fried said.

    George Kruse, a Manatee county commissioner, said he was at the plant on Saturday with other officials and had to clear the area quickly.

    “We determined that it was no longer safe to be anywhere near Piney Point, so we all kind of raced off the stacks as fast as we could,” Kruse said in a Facebook video.