TAMPA TOXIC FLOOD PERIL Reservoir near collapse
The imminent collapse of a wastewater reservoir at an old chemical site near Tampa, Fla., could unleash a 20-foot-high “wall of water,” officials warned on Sunday — urging residents in the potential flood’s path to heed an evacuation order.
Authorities issued the dire warning as federal, state and local workers continued to race against time to contain the breach at Piney Point, first detected Friday at a defunct chemical-processing plant in Manatee County.
“The models for less than an hour could be a 20-foot wall of water,” said acting County Administrator Scott Hopes at a Sunday press briefing, outlining a worst-case scenario.
“If you’re in an evacuation area and you have not heeded that, you need to think twice.”
Models show that flooding of 1 to 5 feet is more likely, Hopes noted.
An emergency evacuation order has been issued to residents of more than 300 homes, while a stretch of nearby US Highway 41 remains closed as a precaution.
Currently, workers are undertaking a controlled release of water from the reservoir in an attempt to mitigate damage, should it eventually burst on its own.
The massive pond originally contained about 480 million gallons of water, while the pumping effort is removing about 33 million gallons per day, according to the Bradenton Herald.
“Evacuate area NOW,” the Manatee County Public Safety Department warned in a Saturday alert. “Collapse of Piney Point Stack Imminent!”
While still stressing caution, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday clarified to area residents that the water is not radioactive, as initially feared.
“It is primarily saltwater from the Port Manatee dredge project mixed with legacy process water and storm -water runoff,” the Republican said, speaking during the same briefing as Hopes. “The water was tested prior to discharge. The water meets waterquality standards for marine waters with [the] exception primarily of the phosphorous and the nitrogen.”
But while the water itself is not radioactive, the Piney Point site does contain stocks of radioactive gypsum, which could become destabilized in the event of a flood, the Herald reported.