TAMPA - In response to warnings from state officials that their dikes pose a threat of a "catastrophic release" of polluted water, four Polk County phosphate factories have begun dumping treated wastewater.
U.S. Agri-Chemicals Corp. in Fort Meade; Cargill Crop Nutrition plants in Bartow and Mulberry; and IMC Phosphates Co., in Nichols are discharging hundreds of millions of gallons of water from their plants. An IMC Phosphates plant in New Wales, which also received the warning, has not started discharging water, said Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP on Friday ordered the state's fertilizer companies to stabilize their dikes or reduce on-site water levels. The state agency issued the order to prevent uncontrollable spills of contaminated water, Schweiss said.
Rain from hurricanes Charley and Frances pushed the facilities to their water-storage limits, according to the DEP. The agency has given the companies permission, for as long as 60 days, to discharge water that contains more pollutants than usual.
IMC Phosphates has released about 9-million gallons of treated water since Friday from its Nichols plant, said company spokeswoman Diana Youmans. The water will eventually make its way to the north prong of Hillsborough County's Alafia River, which also will receive about 40-million gallons from Cargill's Mulberry plant.
Another 240-million gallons will go into the Peace River in Polk County from Cargill's Bartow plant, said Cargill vice president Gray Gordon.
The water, he said, is being treated to meet federal guidelines, which are less stringent than state standards on nitrogen content. Gordon said the impact on the environment would be minimal.
