Mosaic’s Radioactive Sinkhole Problem Could Mean Mine Delays
- Leak wasn’t publicly disclosed until two weeks after discovery
- Mosaic says 45-feet-wide sinkhole has reached Floridan aquifer
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As the world’s largest producer of phosphate fertilizer, Mosaic Co. is used to digging up parts of Florida to recover the mineral. But lately, one particular hole is causing the company some headaches.
A sinkhole 45 feet (14 meters) wide has opened up in a pile of mining waste at the company’s New Wales site in Polk County, about 30 miles east of downtown Tampa, swallowing about 215 million gallons of radioactive wastewater -- enough to fill about 326 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Mosaic says it believes the sinkhole has reached the Floridan aquifer, which provides the local community’s water supply.