SimonP | Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashbridges_Bay_Wastewater_Treatment_Plant.JPG | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
On April 3, 2021, a reservoir in Florida that holds nearly 400 million gallons of wastewater from a former phosphate mine began to leak which prompted hundreds of evacuations.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Phosphogypsum contains “appreciable quantities” of radioactive materials, such as uranium and radium.
Water was leaking at a rate of two to three million gallons per day. On March 26, there were 480 million gallons of water in the reservoir; on Saturday morning there were 390 million gallons remaining. Workers attempted to fix the breach on Friday by reinforcing the wall of the reservoir, but their attempts were unsuccessful.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for 316 homes. The Florida Highway Patrol also shut down sections of US-41 in Manatee and Hillsborough Counties.