Hazardous Water Leaking from Retention Pond in Manatee County Might Impact Southwest Florida

At the end of last week, hazardous water began leaking from a retention pond at a former phosphate processing plant in Manatee County. Since then, homes have been evacuated and a stretch of U.S.-41 was shut down in Manatee and Hillsborough Counties. The next question is, could this toxic water be headed to Southwest Florida?

Governor DeSantis and other state leaders are already planning for the worst. “What we’re looking at now is trying to prevent and respond to if need be a real catastrophic flood situation,” said DeSantis.

Experts are saying a breach is imminent from the retention pond at the former Piney Point Phosphate Processing Plant in Manatee County. This means millions of gallons of hazardous water will be released causing significant damage.

Calusa Waterkeeper Jonh Cassani explains the issue with the water. “The heavy metals can stay in the aquatic ecosystem for a long time and they can be damaging to the nervous system to a lot of different kinds of animals but it looks like they’re pumping it as we speak,” Cassani said.