Massive sinkhole that swallowed more than 200 million gallons of 'radioactive water' in Florida six months ago is now being sealed

  • The 150-foot wide sinkhole opened up in Mulberry, Florida, six months ago
  • It swallowed 215 million gallons of radioactive water at Mosaic's New Wales plant
  • The company has begun filling the hole with a concrete-like mixture 
  • Mosaic says tests show contaminated water has not left company's property 

By Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 20:57 EST, 7 February 2017 | Updated: 21:58 EST, 7 February 2017

A massive sinkhole at a Florida fertilizer plant that swallowed more than 200 million gallons of radioactive water is now in the process of being filled.

The toxic sinkhole that opened up at the Mosaic's New Wales plant in Mulberry, Florida, is being sealed by a concrete mixture. 

Video taken from WFTS-TV's helicopter last week showed a built-up ring around the hole as crews have begun pumping the mixture inside.

The sinkhole, which measures 45 feet in diameter and is 300 feet deep, opened up beneath a pile of waste material at Mosaic, the world's largest supplier of phosphate.

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A massive sinkhole (aerial angle pictured) at a Florida fertilizer plant that swallowed more than 200 million gallons of radioactive water is now in the process of being filled

A massive sinkhole (aerial angle pictured) at a Florida fertilizer plant that swallowed more than 200 million gallons of radioactive water is now in the process of being filled

The toxic sinkhole that opened up at the Mosaic's New Wales plant in Mulberry, Florida, is being sealed by a concrete mixture. Video taken from WFTS-TV's helicopter last week showed a built-up ring around the hole as crews have begun pumping the mixture inside

The toxic sinkhole that opened up at the Mosaic's New Wales plant in Mulberry, Florida, is being sealed by a concrete mixture. Video taken from WFTS-TV's helicopter last week showed a built-up ring around the hole as crews have begun pumping the mixture inside

A storage pond containing 215 million gallons of radioactive water sat atop the waste mineral pile and drained into the aquifer system, which supplies drinking water to millions of residents.

Aquifers are vast, underground systems of porous rocks that hold water and allow it to move through the holes within the rock. 

Since then, workers and contractors have been trying to figure out the best way to stabilize and fill the hole.

The Floridan aquifer, one of the highest producing in the world, is the principal source of groundwater for most of the state, and extends into southern Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

Mosaic said it has continued to monitor the groundwater and has not found evidence that any off-site water has been contaminated.

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

But residents are still living in fear. 

Joyce Hunter, who lives a couple miles from the plant, said that she doesn't drink the water at all. 

Joyce Hunter said that she only uses bottled water to drink and cook with
Resident, Ron Lynn, said that he hopes the waste doesn't reach their private wells

Joyce Hunter (left), who lives a couple miles from the plant, said that she doesn't drink the water at all. She and her neighbor, Ron Lynn (right), say they are just praying the radioactive water that got sucked into the hole doesn't reach their private wells

A storage pond containing 215 million gallons of radioactive water sat atop the waste mineral pile and drained (pictured in September 2016) into the aquifer system, which supplies drinking water to millions of residents

A storage pond containing 215 million gallons of radioactive water sat atop the waste mineral pile and drained (pictured in September 2016) into the aquifer system, which supplies drinking water to millions of residents

The state ordered Mosaic to keep testing the wells (pictured in September 2016) every quarter this year and in 2018. So far, Mosaic says tests show that contaminated water has not left the company's property

The state ordered Mosaic to keep testing the wells (pictured in September 2016) every quarter this year and in 2018. So far, Mosaic says tests show that contaminated water has not left the company's property

'I don't drink the water, I don't cook with the water, I use bottled water altogether. I do shower in the water and I will probably start to glow one day,' she said. 

She and her neighbor, Ron Lynn, say they are just praying the radioactive water that got sucked into the hole doesn't reach their private wells.

The state ordered Mosaic to keep testing the wells every quarter this year and in 2018.

So far, Mosaic says tests show that contaminated water has not left the company's property. 

'This is not closure. We just have to keep our eyes and ears open,' Hunter said.  

Mosaic has built a concrete plant nearby to keep pumping concrete into the hole during this 'stabilizing phase'.

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