MULBERRY, Fla. -- Nearly two years and tens of millions of dollars later, a massive sinkhole that opened under one of The Mosaic Company's gypsum stacks has been sealed.
The $84 million project, which required tons of drilling and grout, finally sealed-off the hole, which allowed millions of gallons of contaminated water to reach the aquifer.
“We had 80 people working up here all the time for the past couple of years,” said David Jellerson, speaking on behalf of the chemical giant. “And the drill crews, the grout crews, the engineers did a fabulous job on this.”
The void at the company’s New Wales phosphate fertilizer plant in Mulberry allowed an estimated 215 million gallons of contaminated water to reach the aquifer, threatening the drinking water of people who live nearby.
But contamination never occurred, Jellerson said.
“The data demonstrates we’ve been able to recover the contaminants and nobody’s drinking water well will be jeopardized,” he said.
Mosaic was happy to show off the finished repairs, but the company was widely criticized after waiting 10 days to report the original sinkhole problem.
The delay infuriated neighbors, regulators and politicians.
“We learned of the value of regular communication,” said Jellerson.
The company has also installed more than 80 deep well monitoring stations and massive pumps to keep contaminated water from seeping off its property.
But to this day, samples aren’t yet clear.
“We’ve already seen, starting to see a decline in concentrations in the recovery wells,” said Jellerson, “And we expect them to be operating for several more years.”
Mosaic said it will also keep monitoring residential wells within a four-mile radius for several years.
Despite the company's confidence in its repair work, the area where the sinkhole occurred will never be used for stacking gypsum or processed water again, Mosaic said.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
