Co. offers free well testing after fertilizer plant leak

Author: The Associated Press
Published: Updated:
PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Damaske / AP

MULBERRY, Fla. (AP) – Residents near a Florida fertilizer plant that has leaked more than 200 million gallons of contaminated water into a drinking water aquifer can have their wells tested for free.

Mosaic, the plant owner, said it would provide the testing, weeks after a leak was discovered at its New Wales facility in central Florida.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller says there is no evidence the contaminated water has moved beyond the site and is threatening groundwater supplies.

The leak discovered Aug. 27 occurred after a sinkhole opened beneath a pile of waste material called a “gypsum stack.” A pond atop the pile drained into the sinkhole, reaching the aquifer.

Miller says the pond was emptied, but some seepage continues.

Mosaic did not return a message seeking comment.

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