"Last month, when a 300-foot-deep sinkhole opened up at a phosphate plant in Mulberry, draining acidic waste into the aquifer below, the owner, fertilizer industry giant Mosaic, alerted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Polk County.
But neither Mosaic nor the three governmental agencies alerted the nearby homeowners who draw their water from the same aquifer. They didn't learn about the 215 million gallons of contaminated water that fell into the aquifer until the incident became public on Friday, three weeks later.
Why the secrecy?
A DEP spokeswoman said state law doesn't require the state or the company involved to notify anyone until there's some sign the pollution has migrated outside the property where it went into the aquifer."
Craig Pittman and Christopher O'Donnell report for the Tampa Bay Times September 19, 2016.
SEE ALSO:
"Florida Sinkhole Causes Vast Leak Of Wastewater Into Drinking Water Source" (AP)
"Co. Offers Free Well Testing After Fertilizer Plant Leak" (AP)
"'Slightly Radioactive' Water Seeping Into Florida Aquifer From Sinkhole" (Fort Myers News-Press)
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