3PR News: Massive Sinkhole Opens in Lithia

The first radio reports I heard on this event is that the landfill was built on “a former phosphate mine” site. I don’t see any further reference to that fact in current reports….

Lithia is the regional headquarters of Mosaic.

Posted: 1:14 PM
Last Updated: 1 hour and 30 minutes ago
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_hillsborough/leaders-looks-for-solution-to-massive-sinkhole

• By: Ellen McNamara
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Today, the Department of Environmental Protection plans to hold a meeting with Hillsborough County leaders to figure out how to fix a massive sinkhole under the Southeast Landfill in Lithia.
The last time we checked with Hillsborough County, the hole was about 60 feet deep.
Even before the meeting this afternoon, the DEP sent a letter to the Hillsborough County Solid Waste Management Department outlining what the county needs to do to ensure the groundwater is safe to drink.
The letter outlines eight different steps, and Michelle Van Dyke with Public Utilities, says the county is doing everything they have been told.
The DEP wants crews to take samples of water at different wells around the 3300 acre site. The samples have to be collected on a daily basis.
Workers also are required to monitor storm water and wells off site on private property near the landfill.
The gas collection system near the sinkhole has to stop operating, but other collection sites can continue working.
As for what caused the sinkhole, geologists working with the county say they are not sure.
Van Dyke says the Florida Aquifer, which flows 130 feet below the surface of the landfill, appears to be fine. The sinkhole formed on a mound about 45 feet above ground.
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Leaders look for solution to massive sinkhole
Source: abcactionnews.com

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