Busch Gardens sinkhole: 2.5 million gallons of wastewater released, DEP officials monitoring
TAMPA, Fla. - Florida environmental officials are monitoring a sinkhole at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that developed in a wastewater treatment pond.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said employees at the park found a 15x15 foot sinkhole on November 18. Officials said it opened up in one of its three ponds used in their on-site wastewater treatment process for the animal enclosures at Busch Gardens.
"On November 18, we reported the opening of a sinkhole under one of our retention ponds to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection," officials with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay said in a statement. "The opening drained the pond of water underground. Water levels are monitored 24x7, and we were alerted to the issue as water levels began to slowly drop in the morning."
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The park's employees closed off the weir that connected one of the other ponds with the one that had the sinkhole, but DEP said about 2.5 million gallons of treated wastewater was released into the sinkhole.
According to officials, the pond does not hold raw sewage. The department said water sampling is underway and the park has contracted an engineering firm to come up with a plan to address the sinkhole.
DEP confirmed that its staff, as well as a staff professional geologist, have been at the Busch Gardens site to monitor the park's response. The department said they were conducting a regulatory investigation and reviewing information to see if there were any violations related to the sinkhole.