Florida Residents Sue Mosaic Over Sinkhole
September 23 2016 - 11:55AM
Dow Jones News
By Jesse Newman
Three Florida residents have filed a lawsuit against Mosaic Co.
that seeks to hold the fertilizer company responsible for potential
contamination of their drinking water wells after a 45-foot-wide
sinkhole opened at one of its plants, releasing wastewater into an
underground aquifer.
Mosaic said last week the massive sinkhole had opened up at its
New Wales facility, which produces fertilizer and ingredients for
animal feed from phosphate rock. Millions of gallons of
contaminated water spilled toward the Florida aquifer that supplies
drinking water to nearby wells.
The hole drained 215 million gallons of acidic water, as a well
as a type of fertilizer byproduct that is slightly radioactive,
from a pond atop of a huge pile of mining waste called a
phosphogypsum stack, or a "gyp stack."
Plaintiffs are seeking "immediate and regular" tests of
residents' private water wells for signs of radioactivity and other
chemicals until there is no longer risk of contamination, according
to the lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court Middle
District of Florida. The suit, filed on behalf of people within 5
miles of the sinkhole who rely on private water wells, is seeking
class action status.
"We are reviewing the details of this filing and will respond
through the judicial process," said Ben Pratt, a spokesman for
Mosaic.
Mosaic says it discovered a decline in water levels at the "gyp
stack" on Aug. 27, after which it alerted government officials and
immediately began aggressive groundwater monitoring and sampling to
detect contamination.
The fertilizer maker is also pumping wastewater released through
the sinkhole out of the aquifer, saying this is possible because
water in the aquifer moves slowly, at a rate of about 1,000 feet a
month. The company says monitoring shows no wastewater has spread
off its property and that operations at the plant continue
uninterrupted.
Mosaic is offering free, third-party testing of water wells and
bottled water to nearby residents who want it until they get
assurances their well water hasn't been tainted.
Despite the company's assurances, some environmentalists see the
incident as cause for alarm, in part because they say the Florida
aquifer is porous.
"This new sinkhole demonstrates that the waste disposal methods
of Mosaic's fertilizer processing plants and gyp stack disposal
systems can be dangerous," said Beverly Griffiths, chair of Sierra
Club Florida's phosphate committee.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said it is
visiting Mosaic's plant frequently as well as receiving daily
updates from the company, including the latest results from
groundwater monitoring.
Write to Jesse Newman at jesse.newman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 23, 2016 11:40 ET (15:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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