Some environmentalists contend that open evaporation ponds pose an unidentified health and safety risk to human populations and have an as-yet-unknown effect on climate change. This concern was multiplied when in April 2021, a large containment pond in Florida appeared to be in danger of catastrophic failure for a short period of time. The huge evaporation pond in Piney Point contained approximately 400 million gallons of wastewater from a former phosphate mine when a leak was detected that could have resulted in a massive wall of water flooding both residential and commercial areas.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, declared a state of emergency for three counties, and ordered a controlled release of pond water into local waterways in the vicinity of Tampa. Nearly 35 million gallons a day were channeled out of the pond, but the effect of the still-polluted water on fish and surrounding environment will not be known for some time. The pond, which still holds about 300 million gallons of liquid, was declared stabilized, but not before hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. The water in the pond is known to contain traces of heavy metals and other toxic substances, and it is built on top of a pile of phosphogypsum tailings that is at least 70 feet tall and occupies approximately 79 acres. A full breach of the pond could potentially have “upended” stacks of the posphogypsum containing “appreciable quantities” of uranium and radium, according to federal officials. A spokesman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection noted that the water being discharged met quality standards for marine waters “with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen,” plus being “slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern.”
