Florida tries to stop ‘catastrophic’ pond collapse

[libertybele]

Florida tries to stop ‘catastrophic’ pond collapse

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday 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 say the latest models show that a breach at the old phosphate plant reservoir has the potential to gush out 340 million gallons of water in a matter of minutes, risking a 20-foot-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 said at a press conference after flying over the old Piney Point phosphate mine.

Authorities say 316 homes have been evacuated and some families were placed in local hotels. A local jail in the area is not being evacuated but they are moving people and staff to the second story and putting sandbags on the ground floor.........

https://www.winknews.com/2021/04/03/us-41-closed-in-parts-of-manatee-and-hillsborough-counties/

[libertybele]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-state-of-emergency-wastewater-leak/

[Elderberry]

Fears rise in Tampa, Florida after an emergency evacuation order for residents of Piney Point industrial site which holds 400 million gallons of water containing radioactive material, triggering an environmental disaster

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2021/04/fears-rise-in-tampa-florida-after.html

Manatee County issued an emergency evacuation order for nearby residents of the troubled Piney Point industrial site after a breach was discovered Friday afternoon, sparking fears that it could lead to millions of gallons of polluted water flooding the neighbourhoods and the collapse of the gypsum stacks, which contain radioactive material, triggering an environmental disaster. “Working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, HRK Holdings and county administration, we felt that the threat was imminent and ordered an evacuation,” said Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jacob Saur, whose department includes emergency management.

The evacuation order includes people who live south of Buckeye Road East from 31st Terrace East to Oneil Road and north of 113th Street East. Those residents need to evacuate their homes immediately. The Red Cross has been called in to assist residents who need help seeking shelter at a hotel, Saur said. Residents with questions can call 311. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol closed off the roads. Local and state emergency management teams descended on the scene after the breach was observed in the wall of a leaking pond, which holds 400 million gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from the old phosphate mining property.

Too much nitrogen and phosphorus lead to polluted water and algae, resulting in serious environmental and health issues. A “breakout of seepage” along the eastern wall of the New Gypsum Stack South reservoir was detected around 4 p.m. Friday, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Residents in the 1/2-mile area were sent emergency evacuation notifications on their smartphones. “FDEP’s Emergency Management staff are on-site and coordinating with Manatee County to provide assistance with an engineered blockade of the natural landscape to halt the breakout to contain the system,” Weesam Khoury, FDEP’s press secretary, said in a statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjzYh-1d-E

[libertybele]

The plan is to dump this water into Tampa Bay    I thought this is what they wanted to prevent  -- spillage into Tampa Bay.  They need to do something quickly. I've also read, that this could also spill south of Manatee county as well which would be yet another environmental disaster.