Contaminated waste water from a fertiliser plant has leaked in one of Florida's main underground sources of drinking water after a massive sinkhole opened up beneath a storage pond.

Phosphate company Mosaic said the hole opened beneath a pile of waste material called a "gypsum stack" near Tampa, leaking 215 million gallons of "slightly radioactive water".

But David Jellerson, senior director for environmental and phosphate projects at the company, said: "Groundwater moves very slowly. There's absolutely nobody at risk."

The company - the world's largest phosphate supplier - said the sinkhole measured around 45ft in diameter.

Image: The company - Mosaic - insists there is no risk to the public

The water had been used to transport the gypsum - a by-product of fertiliser production - according to the company.


The sinkhole, which was discovered on 27 August, is believed to reach down to the Floridan aquifer. Aquifers are vast, underground systems of porous rocks that hold water.

It is a major source of drinking water in Florida and extends into southern Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.