Mosaic, Inc. exploring underground wastewater well, raising concerns amongst environmental group
Mosaic proposes injecting treated wastewater underground
Mosaic Inc., which owns many of the state's current phosphate stacks, is exploring injecting treated wastewater into an underground well. Carla Bayron reports.
PLANT CITY, Fla. - Mosaic Inc., which owns many of the state's current phosphate stacks, is exploring injecting treated wastewater into an underground well.
If approved, the well would be constructed at their Plant City facility at Paul S. Buchman Highway in Hillsborough County near the Pasco County line.
Mosaic Inc. Plant City facility in Hillsborough County.
The company is currently applying for a permit to construct the well at a depth of 8,000 ft. below the surface.
The other side:
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The well would test whether the subsurface is suitable for injecting treated phosphate gypsum wastewater.
"The only reason this is being proposed is because the water is so polluted that they can't get a permit to discharge it to the surface," said Glenn Compton, the Director of a non-profit environmental organization called ManaSota-88.
Environmental non-profit ManaSota-88's website.
Compton believes this is a cost-saving proposal by the industry. One of the alternatives, reverse osmosis, is expensive, and he says the public's groundwater will be the expense.
"Over time, all wells are going to leak, and whether or not you can detect a leak through monitoring is a hit-and-miss scenario," said Compton. "So, by the time you find out there's something wrong with a well, it's too late to do anything about it, so you end up polluting the groundwater forever cause there's no good way to clean it up."
The backstory:
In 2021, Piney Point in Manatee County had a gypsum stack pond leak over 200 million gallons of wastewater into Tampa Bay and cause massive fish kills.
2021's gypsum stack pond leak at Manatee County's Piney Point.
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The facility was closed, and a permit was issued for a deep well injection—the first in the state.
Compton suspects Mosaic Inc. and companies like them will propose more permits at other phosphate mining sites in the future, and he hopes it will not be approved.
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"This is an industry problem in terms of what they're trying to do with their polluted water.," said Compton. "It should be an industry solution and the public should not have to pay for it with having their groundwater polluted forever."
Mosaic Inc. Plant City facility in Hillsborough County.
What's next:
The open house public meeting will be held at 1601 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Plant City on Tuesday, March 11, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Representatives of The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Drinking Water and Aquifer Protection Program and Mosaic, Inc. will be available to answer the public's questions.
Mosaic Inc.
FOX 13 reached out to Mosaic, Inc. for comment and a spokesperson for the company released the following statement:
"Underground Injection Control (UIC) is a proven technology. It will add resiliency to Mosaic’s overall water management strategy at up to four locations in central Florida. The Plant City permit allows testing to evaluate geological conditions and determine if they are acceptable for UIC injection.
UIC is also not new to Florida. More than 220 Class 1 UIC wells are permitted across the state, including in the Tampa Bay area. Florida’s UIC program is rigorous and protective of the environment, authorizing the injection only of non-hazardous wastewater. Whether discharging to surface or injecting, Mosaic adheres to the approved processes for treating water.
UIC requires a substantial investment to construct the well and operate it. It will provide Mosaic with an option other than surface water discharge, which is subject to its own critics.
For months, Mosaic has engaged stakeholders and neighbors across Hillsborough County in the conversation around the use of UIC at Plant City, how it works, and its successful track record."
For more information on the public meeting, click here.
The Source: FOX 13's Carla Bayron collected the information in this story.
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