Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a significant leak at a wastewater storage facility caused flooding and a system for storing radioactive material collapsed.
Florida officials were evacuating homes and a freeway near the large reservoir in the area north of Bradenton. The Red Cross was called in to help.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said a crack was detected in a wall of a 77-acre dam at the old Piney Point phosphate plant on Friday.
The dam contains millions of liters of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen.
The Tampa Bay Times said the dam contained about 480 million gallons of wastewater before the company operating it began discharging it to Port Manatee this week. At least 25 million gallons were left early Thursday.
The Piney Point phosphate plant is also home to stacks of phosphogypsum, a waste product from the production of radioactive fertilizers that contain small amounts of natural radium and uranium. The stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.
Officials are concerned that the collapse of the system could emit polluted water as well as more hazardous materials into the area and bay.
State and local crew members worked overnight to reinforce the violations, but residents within a half-mile radius of the dam received a text message warning them to leave the area immediately because of the collapse of the Piney Point pile was ‘threatening’.
George Kruse, a provincial commissioner of Manatee, said he was with other officials at the plant on Saturday and had to clean up the area quickly.
“Then we decided it was no longer safe to be near Piney Point, so we all rushed off the piles as quickly as possible,” Kruse said in a Facebook video.
Officials will later explain what they observed, he said.