PLANT CITY - In response to mounting pollution fears, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson toured an aging phosphate processing plant Wednesday and promised to prod federal agencies investigating residents' health concerns.
"We need to get answers quickly," Nelson said before a town hall meeting at Plant City City Hall.
People in two Plant City communities have been on edge since June, when a state health report repeated their fears about higher cancer rates and a federal agency ordered a closer look.
The concerns center on the Coronet Industries factory just south of city limits and two closed landfills nearby.
Since the report, authorities have been testing drinking wells, taking urine samples and handing out bottled water. They say they have no evidence cancer rates are higher around the plant, but want to do more tests before giving residents more definitive answers.
Nelson told about 80 residents that the government's timeline for completing its study - about one year - wasn't fast enough. To speed up the process, he said he would send letters today to the Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency.
In August, authorities tested 43 wells near the plant and found one with troubling levels of arsenic, a cancer-causing chemical element, and nine with high levels of boron, which can cause stomach ailments. Both substances are byproducts at Coronet, but authorities say it is too early to say whether the factory is responsible. As many as 40 more wells will be tested in coming weeks.
In a related development Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued an emergency order directing Coronet to immediately shore up berms around its vast wastewater ponds. Recent rains filled the ponds to the brim, increasing the possibility that the slightly acidic, untreated water could escape into nearby creeks and cause environmental problems.
Company officials said they began working on the berms before the DEP's notice.
