News has recently emerged that a huge sinkhole appeared at the Mosaic phosphate fertiliser plant about three weeks ago but has been kept a secret until recently.
To date, this has resulted in 215 million gallons of water containing sodium, sulphate, and gypsum, which contains low levels of radiation having drained into an aquifer in Polk County that is Florida’s main source of drinking water.
The sinkhole, which almost 14 metres wide, appeared under a “gypsum stack†of waste material that is created during the process of producing fertiliser from phosphate.
According to the company, it began diverting the water as soon as the alarm was raised; however there are those who question that, as the company discovered the sinkhole back in August, yet kept it a secret from the public as they felt that there was no risk.
According to David Jellerson, Mosaic’s senior director for environmental and phosphate projects, “Groundwater moves very slowly. There’s absolutely nobody at risk.â€
What many feel is worse, is that the company did inform the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but the DEP also kept this information from the public.
DEP spokesperson Dee Ann Miller stated, “The department’s focus at this time is on the oversight of Mosaic’s first-response efforts in order to safeguard public health and the environment.”
This is not the first time that Mosaic, which is the world’s largest phosphate mining company, has been in hot water – just last year the company was fined in excess of $2 billion over its hazardous waste pollution, and the locals say that the company is not doing sufficient.
As news of this latest contamination eventually leaked out, locals staged a demonstration, saying that the company was putting their lives, the lives of their children, future generations, and the environment in danger.
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