Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for Manatee County due to a pending collapse of phosphogypsum stacks, waste from the manufacture of fertilizer, which will contaminate local groundwater and land, CNN reports.
The county public safety organization has evacuated the entire Piney Point reservoir, which holds 480 million gallons of phosphogypsum, which is mildly radioactive and is mixed with a slightly salty water for storage.
“We’re talking about the potential of about [480] million gallons, within a matter of seconds and minutes, leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” said Scott Hopes, the Manatee County Administrator, who said the “waste that would be less conducive to life on land and…life in the sea.”
A leak in the containment wall was discovered a week ago. Area residents were evacuated on Thursday. Crews worked through Friday to try to contain the leak, but efforts were unsuccessful.
“We’ve been trying to contain this water unsuccessfully for 20 something years,” Hopes said.