Additional photos in this article: http://www.newstalkflorida.com/news/orlando/sinkhole-drains-contaminated-water/
http://www.reuters.com/article/mosaic-sinkhole-idUSL2N1BS0OH
http://www.ourphosphaterisk.com/phosphate/byproducts
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/phosphate-giant-mosaic-agrees-to-pay-2-billion-over-mishandling-of/2247897
I’ve already notified my friends in Florida, if it’s Tampa Bay area, I think they’re okay,
Additional photos in this article: http://www.newstalkflorida.com/news/orlando/sinkhole-drains-contaminated-water/
I have a growing fear of sinkholes. Some day Florida will be a beautiful island.
20 miles from my home. Gypsum is naturally very slightly radioactive, the accumulation comes from the large amount of digging in the phosphate mines.
I live near that area.
The plant is huge...
Enivormental wackos will be posting to social media we are all DOOMED...
I live in the Tampa Bay area and have encountered these ‘waste retention’ hills on many an area bike ride. As can be seen in post #3 they are massive but what is not seen is their height. Think of a 3-4 story high hill that rises from Florida’s flat landscape and extends for half a mile or more. The retained water at the top is completely invisible from the ground and all that is seen is the grass-covered slope and one or more angled roads climbing up steep sides of 30% or more.
The radioactivity comes from NORM (Normally Occurring Radioactive Materials) found in with the desired phosphate rock. The wet processing method of phosphate rock mining produces phosphoric acid for fertilizer and a waste product of Phosphogypsum. The radioactive components comes from the selective separation and concentration of naturally occurring Radium (Ra-226), Uranium (U-238) and Thorium (Th-232). While most of the Uranium and Thorium end up in the fertilizer (yep, you will get clicks from a Geiger Counter), most of the Radium stays with the waste phosphogypsum.
Note that all 3 of these radioactive elements are heavy and tend to sink to the bottom in still water, which is why these settlement ponds are used. The clay used to seal these picks up the settled particles and thus becomes hazardous waste classified by the EPA as “TENORM” (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials).
So, with the sinkhole opening in what appears to be close to the center of this settlement pond, the entire contents of the pond water went down the hole but not all of the settled radioactive material (good thing). Next good thing is that there are required monitoring wells scattered through and beyond the plant boundaries. These detect leaks and disasters like this. From what I have heard, the company has drilled a relief well to the acquirer level at the computed point of high concentration and pumped out. Such pumping will draw in the surrounding water table and is likely to recover much but not all of the lost waste water.
My personal view is that the local health risks are low and get quickly lower the further away one is. The radioactive risk is what makes this a national news story rather than a local contamination story. Science tells us that we are exposed to ‘radioactivity’ just by living everywhere except in designed locations like lead-lined room. Probability gives us a chance for stray ionization (radioactive particle) from ANY SOURCE to be a malignant BB that causes a cancer or other undesired health impact. The older we get the more we are exposed with weaker immune responses.
So, I, for one, accept the risk that these phosphate mining operations expose me to in return for inexpensive fertilizers that feed a burgeoning world population. To decide otherwise means going back to harvesting guano from bird and bat droppings and there are few enough places to do that!
Phosphoric Acid = Coca Cola base...