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Cargill is an environmental rapist

Today’s Tampa Bay acid spill is the very predictable result of mining companies cutting corners to increase profits at the expense of the environment, with a wink and a nod from the state.

As much as 120 million gallons of acidic wastewater is flowing into Hillsborough Bay from a breach in the retention reservoir at Cargill Fertilizer, authorities said late this afternoon.

The storm-related rupture occurred this morning as the company was trying to drain some of the reservoir, said Colleen Castille, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The company notified the industry friendly DEP before they notified local authorities...

She announced it at a 4 p.m. briefing in Tallahassee; Hillsborough County officials said they weren't aware until about 4:30 p.m. There was no immediate explanation for the lack of communication, and Cargill officials could not be reached for comment.

Hillsborough Administrator Pat Bean said a county fire truck was dispatched to confirm the breach, which Castille described as a six-foot hole in the southern end of the dike. The wastewater was flowing into Archie Creek, and from there into the bay.

``Clearly we are very concerned about this,'' Bean said. ``It will be considered a very serious issue.''

Fish kills and other environmental damage are potential results of such spills, but there was no word on specific effects likely in this case.

Castille said the company was treating the discharge with lime to try to offset the acidity, and a trench around the reservoir was large enough to contain perhaps 20 percent of the leakage.

Treating a spill of this magnitude with lime is like trying to soak up all the rain that has fallen on Florida in the past day and a half with a kitchen sponge. If the mine owners were at all concerned about the environmental impact, they would have notified local authorities as soon as they thought there might be a problem - they could have received help with containment and repair, but now it looks like it’s too late.

The fear of a major acidic spill into Tampa Bay is not a new one. In 1977, millions of gallons of phosphate waste water spilled into the Alafia river, which flows into Tampa Bay. Everything in the river that was downstream of the spill died. Everything. Or, as this dry sounding report puts it, biota in the Alafia River eliminated.

Last summer, controversy raged over a state plan to dump waste water from an abandoned mine into the Gulf so as to spare the Bay from a potentially devastating spill.

More recently, a plume of “muddy” water was released into the Alafia from an IMC fertilizer plant.

Tampa is in the heart of phosphate country. Take a drive east from the shores of Tampa Bay, and you’ll run into mile upon mile of phosphate strip mine operations. The mining companies essentially scrape off 10 feet or so off topsoil to get to the desired phosphate underneath, which is then processed using an acid wash.

What’s left is a giant hole in the ground and a reservoir of highly acidic waste water. Both of these byproducts can be hazardous.

A judge recently found that the state is somewhat lacking in its oversight of the mining industry. Ruling on a permit issued for a huge strip mining operation in northeastern Manatee County, Administrative Law Judge J. Lawrence Johnston said that

IMC Phosphates provided inadequate, and sometimes inaccurate, confusing and misleading information in its application to mine the Manatee site, called the Altman Tract.

At the same time, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection failed to closely question IMC about many aspects of the mine and agreed to permit it without basic information on water and wildlife resources, the document showed.

"Mining obviously will have a devastating impact on the natural environment of the Altman Tract" and could affect downstream resources as well, Johnston wrote.

The decision marks the first win after a series of legal setbacks in a multimillion-dollar campaign by Southwest Florida local governments, a regional public water utility, environmental groups and individuals to halt the spread of phosphate mining.

"It feels like a watershed moment," said Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings. "I hope that it is one."

The judge's ruling, called a recommended order, is not final. But it carries significant legal weight and heartens leaders in the mining opposition as they prepare for the most significant phase of the battle over the future of the phosphate industry. That phase begins next month with a hearing on whether IMC should be allowed to mine on 20,500 acres in Hardee County.

Mining companies have traditionally been allowed to rape and pillage Florida at will. They are incredibly loosely regulated, and they do their best to barely comply with the few state regulations that do exist to protect the environment. It is really no surprise that a mjor spill is occurring right now. It is surprising that these spills don’t happen more often.

If this spill proves to be as devastating as the 1977 Alafia incident, the mining company may actually be found liable for damages. If that happens, expect the company to promptly declare bankruptcy, protecting the shareholders’ profits and leaving the state on the hook for possibly billions of dollars in clean up expenses. Oh, and someone will have to maintain the acidic reservoir to prevent another spill. The state will have no choice but to pick up those costs as well.