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MULBERRY, Fla., Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A massive sinkhole has opened at a fertilizer plant in Florida, dropping millions of gallons of radioactive water into the Florida aquifer, threatening drinking water and recreational areas nearby. About 215 million gallons of radioactive water have spilled in to the sinkhole in Mulberry, which fertilizer company Mosaic said is about 45-feet wide and 800-feet deep.
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The aquifer is the source of drinking water for millions of local residents and empties into springs that Floridians use for recreation, WFTS reports.
Phosphogypsum is a fertilizer waste product and typically stores in stacks. The sinkhole opened up near the stack and damaged the lining of the base.
"Some seepage continues" the company said.
The fertilizer company has "immediately implemented additional and extensive groundwater monitoring and sampling regimens and has found no offsite impacts," and has pumped water out of the stack "into an alternative holding area on site to reduce the amount of drainage."
It said it is also "recovering" water from the sinkhole.
Actions which the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have confirmed.
