Mosaic sinkhole

MULBERRY — The politics heated up Thursday over state environmental officials’ response to the Mosaic sinkhole that emptied 215 million gallons of contaminated water into the Floridan Aquifer.

After Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton criticized the state’s initial silence about it, Republican Gov. Rick Scott fired back with orders for the Department of Environmental Protection to release its timeline of responsiveness and to provide daily updates.

In a separate flow of information, Mosaic posted on its website an illustration showing how it is using one if its existing 800-foot-deep wells to suck the contaminated water sideways out of the sinkhole into the well, then pumping the contaminated water up.

The well is pumping from the aquifer at a rate of 3,500 gallons a minute, Mosaic spokeswoman Callie Neslund said Thursday.

“We believe the contaminated water is sitting under the gypsum stack in the aquifer," she said. "And we believe it is being pumped over to the well and back up to be recycled.”

That belief is based on measurements of dissolved solids in the well water, basically finding salt in the water, she said. Among the contaminants that were in the pond sucked into the sinkhole were sodium (salt), small amounts of radium (radioactivity), sulfate and fluoride.

Early signs that a sinkhole was developing were noticed Aug. 27 by a Mosaic technician who reported the depth of the pond on top of the 150-foot tall gypsum stack had dropped by 2 feet. The 45-foot-wide sinkhole opened Sept. 5, emptying the pond. The depth of the sinkhole is still unknown but it is believed to extend down into the Floridan Aquifer .................................