USA: Florida sewage threat to Tampa Bay; 300 homes evacuated

"Evacue the area NOW. The fall of a sewage tank at Piney Point is inevitable" is a warning sent by Manatee County authorities on Saturday, addressed to local residents.

It was added that breaking the walls of the reservoir would be the most dangerous for the people inhabiting this area, but polluted water can also get into Tampa Bay.

The Piney Point sewage dump is located at the site of the former phosphate factory and houses about 1.8 billion litres of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen compounds – recalls Reuter's agency. On Friday, a leak was discovered in the wall of one of the reservoirs, located close to the phosphogypsum landfill – containing a small amount of radium and uranium by-product obtained in the production of artificial fertilizers. The endangered reservoir has 33 hectares of surface area.

Since then, attempts have been made to plug the leak, in parallel with the controlled discharge of water, to prevent the wall from breaking completely. Local authorities are concerned that the strained structure of the void and all the polluted water stored in the tank will in one moment flood the surrounding agricultural areas.

DeSantis announced a state of emergency, which allowed the unlocking of additional funds to save the tank. On Saturday, one of the highway reservoirs was closed.

Source: PAP