41+ Mil Gals of Acidic-Radioactive Sludge In Tampa Bay

[Possum Trot]

I hope this post is appropriate for this Forum. Everyone is well aware of the toppled trees, damaged homes and loss of power, but I didn't know if others had heard about this damage done by TS Frances. Actually, Frances shares responsiblity with Cargil.

I think of an estuary as analogous to the baby nursery at the hospital. It will be years before the life in the area recovers.

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Acidic spill tops 41-million gallons
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 7, 2004
St. Petersburg Times

TAMPA - At least 41-million gallons of contaminated water have spilled from a Riverview phosphate plant into a creek that leads to Hillsborough Bay. Another 20-million could end up in the creek by today, officials said...

...The problem was caused when a dike at the top of a 100-foot-high gypsum stack holding 150-million gallons of polluted water broke Sunday after waves driven by Hurricane Frances bashed the dike's southwest corner.

...At the point where Archie Creek meets Hillsborough Bay, the pH levels were measured at 3.1, Elrabi said. Normal levels are between 6.5 and 8.

...Gordon said the wastewater contains a tiny amount of radioactive material.

...Waterways around the western Hillsborough County shoreline are part of a highly sensitive ecosystem, said Holly Greening of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

It's a feeding ground and nursery for redfish, snook, tarpon, manatees, shrimp and crabs as well as birds such as herons, egrets and sandpipers...

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/07/Hills ... _41_.shtml

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Wastewater Spill Is Worrisome
By JOHN VAUGHAN jvaughan@tampatrib.com
Published: Sep 7, 2004
Tampa Tribune

...Cargill Crop Nutrition, a unit of Cargill Inc., faces the possibility of regulatory as well as ecological fallout from the spill that resulted from a reservoir breach amid Hurricane Frances on Sunday.

``It's a serious spill,'' Vice President Gray Gordon told a news conference Monday at company offices north of Gibsonton. ``We're very upset about this, very concerned.''

At one point, he apologetically characterized it as ``a 10 on a scale of 10.''

...The volume is in the range of the more than 50 million gallons of acidic wastewater that escaped from a burst dam at Mulberry Phosphates in 1997. That poisoned about 35 miles of the Alafia River and killed an estimated 3.1 million fish.

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB5JW6GTYD.html

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State: Cargill warned about dike problems
The Ledger - The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla.

...In an Aug. 10 letter, the state Department of Environmental Protection warned the company that a 100-foot stretch of the dike was not 18 feet wide as required. That section was 15 feet wide.

The agency also warned that water in a reservoir was so high that an inch or two of rain would raise the water to the top of the berm. The reservoir sits on top of 180-foot-high gypsum stack.

Cargill officials said they began immediately to thicken the dike, but the work wasn't finished when Frances hit.

...The berm broke in the thin section that had been noted in the state's initial warning.


http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... /409080635

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Hurricane Spills Gallons of Acidic Waste
Newsday - Associated Press
September 8, 2004, 8:58 AM EDT

...An overflow ditch couldn't handle the spill, and for a while the company ran out of a caustic solution used to buffer acid in the escaping wastewater. Then, the storm prevented crews from beginning repairs.

http://tinyurl.com/5tlnm

OR

http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url=http: ... -headlines

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On channel 10, WTSP, it was also reported live during the storm that a pump failed as Cargill employees tried to reduce the amount of sludge in the retetnion pond and thus the potential environmental damage.

[Josephine96]

In Lehman's terms does that basically mean that Frances created an environmental hazard?

[Guest]

why why why? we always ruin everything with our chemicals and whatnot . poor animals

[Possum Trot]

In Lehman's terms does that basically mean that Frances created an environmental hazard?

"Environmental Hazard" sounds to me like the jargon a politician would use to avoid the reality of the situation. I think for any layman 41 plus million gallons of radioactive-acidic sludge in Tampa Bay is pretty clear.

I'm new around here. Are you suggesting my post was too long?

[hesperhys]

In Lehman's terms does that basically mean that Frances created an environmental hazard?

Nope -- Cargill created the hazard.

[jwelch5]

In Lehman's terms does that basically mean that Frances created an environmental hazard?

Nope -- Cargill created the hazard.

Exactly!!!! Why did the state have to point out to Cargill that they had created a dangerous situation? Isn't that the job of the company, to act in a responsible manner. Not only should the company pay substantial damages, but the decision makers involved within the company should be brought up on criminal charges. In this case, this should be the end of Cargill. Now THAT would get shareholders attention.

[Matthew5]

I agree we caused the mess by having that kind of poison. Where it in the first place. I agree hesperhys.

[Lebowsky]

I don't think those companies provide enough jobs to offset the harm they do. Florida has a tourist economy ... ask any professional fishing guide, the water quality in Tampa Bay is a joke compared to forty miles south.

The companies have a lot of money to give to the politicians, but the point will come when WE have to act to save our bay.

[MBryant]

Please don't jump to conclusions. One mans dung is another mans fertilizer. Those chemicals you are so upset with are what cause life to exist. (I believe created for just that purpose)

Please focus you're anger toward the poor management, storage and/or use of the chemicals.

[alicia-w]

ARGH!!!! Where's the EPA hitmen!?!?!?!?!

[soonertwister]

The introduction of large amounts of phosphate-contaminated water into that ecosystem may very well encourage a very large algal bloom, which potentially could be deadly toxic to many plant and animal species directly affected by the health of that area. Hypoxic water could suffocate millions of fish, or toxins produced by harmfal algal bloom could kill off not only fish, but shellfish and other animals directly, as well as predator species which prey on those directly affected ones.

In a severe situation, harmful algal bloom could even be toxic to human beings who consume fish or shellfish, or who are directly in contact with the water, or even by breathing the air in the immediate vicinity.

The company VP was correct. This is very possibly a major ecodisaster. How these conditions of danger were allowed to persist is unfathomable to me. Ironically, possibly the best thing that could happen for that local ecosystem right now would be another hurricane to dilute the effects of the phosphates.

[Steve Cosby]

It's a feeding ground and nursery for redfish, snook, tarpon, manatees, shrimp and crabs as well as birds such as herons, egrets and sandpipers...

Not anymore...

[stormie_skies]

The EPA hitmen dont exist anymore ....this administration downsized them. What a horrible mess....

[azsnowman]

First off....No, your post was not too long, in fact, a GREAT post

Secondly, WHY in the world do they BUILD toxic sites like these along waterways to begin with?? I mean, COME ON.....we ALL know just how unpredictable Mother Nature is, did they actually think that the area was a hurricane/tropical storm free zone

Dennis

[hesperhys]

First off....No, your post was not too long, in fact, a GREAT post

Secondly, WHY in the world do they BUILD toxic sites like these along waterways to begin with?? I mean, COME ON.....we ALL know just how unpredictable Mother Nature is, did they actually think that the area was a hurricane/tropical storm free zone

Dennis

Third, why does a thread like this get moved to "OFF TOPIC" while chatty-cathy threads like "did you miss me?" stay on the main board. Curious...