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Staff ReportsSeptember 11, 2017

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A massive sinkhole opened at the edge of an apartment building in Orange County, swallowing air conditioning units and bushes and a concrete slab. The sinkhole destabilized the building so seriously that firefighters evacuated dozens of residents amid the hurricane’s winds and pouring rain. The Associated Press reports that Ronnie Ufie heard a loud bang […]

Tamara LushJuly 21, 2017

The Florida sinkhole that swallowed two homes last week isn’t getting any deeper, but it’s getting wider, officials said Wednesday — and one resident who’s back home after being evacuated is vowing to stay unless the hole consumes her house. “I’m apprehensive, a little nervous,” said Patty Camunas, 57, whose family lives near the sinkhole. […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 16, 2017

Big business is not automatically bad business. The Tampa Bay Times learned a hard lesson about assumptions and the truth this week after publishing the opinions of two retired scientists who accused Mosaic Co. and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection of ignoring warnings of a growing sinkhole on Mosaic property. While the allegations fed […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 3, 2017

Congresswoman Gwen Graham took the last few days of the year to reflect on 2016, looking back on a series of successes during the Tallahassee Democrat’s single term in Congress. Graham, who opted not to run for re-election after redistricting made Florida’s 2nd Congressional District too Republican, is also looking to the future — with the promise to […]

Mitch PerryNovember 17, 2016

U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham is speaking out critically about the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, after she reviewed public records regarding the massive sinkhole at Mosaic’s facility in Polk County. “Unless there are records that were not produced as required by law, the disclosures show an alarming lack of communication among state regulators about a threat to the health and safety […]

Associated PressOctober 2, 2016

The FBI wants to discover who sent an envelope containing an unknown white powder to the company on whose property a massive sinkhole opened, causing contaminated water and fertilizer to flow into Florida’s main drinking water aquifer. The FBI said Saturday it testing the powder delivered Friday to The Mosaic Company‘s Tampa area headquarters. The powder […]

Tamara LushSeptember 29, 2016

Neighbors of a huge sinkhole sending cascades of contaminated water and fertilizer plant waste into Florida’s main drinking-water aquifer are fearful and fuming that it took weeks for them to be notified about the disaster. Many are still waiting anxiously for results from tests for radiation and toxic chemicals in their well water. Meanwhile, the […]

Scott PowersSeptember 26, 2016

With his environmental agency getting hammered because of a three-week delay in the Mosaic sinkhole disaster, Gov. Rick Scott today ordered a new emergency rule that the Department of Environmental Protection immediately notify the public in cases of pollution crises. “While DEP was on-site to investigate the situation at Mosaic in less than 24 hours […]

Scott PowersSeptember 26, 2016

Democratic Florida Senate candidate Linda Stewart Monday blasted Mosaic and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for their delayed responses to the massive Polk County sinkhole that drained fertilizer byproduct runoff into the aquifer. Stewart, running against Republican nominee Dean Asher in Florida Senate District 13, based in Orlando, said the company’s and the state’s […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 22, 2016

Earlier this week, I addressed the Polk County Board of County Commissioners on the recent sinkhole and water loss incident at our New Wales production facility, and believe the updates and sentiments that I shared are pertinent to the entire west-central Florida community. The most important thing for the community to know is that on […]

Tag: Sinkhole
Image via Palatka Main Street.

Massive sinkhole opens in Orange County during Irma

As Pasco County sinkhole widens, some are determined to stay put

Faulty sinkhole reporting becomes hard lesson on rushing to judgment

Email insights: Gwen Graham reflects on time in Congress, hints a ‘look to the future’

Gwen Graham still not satisfied after receiving DEP records about sinkhole

FBI: Powder sent to company involved in sinkhole

Outcry grows over delay in warning about Mosaic sinkhole, contamination

Rick Scott orders new immediate notification rule in pollution crises

Linda Stewart decries state, company response to Mosaic sinkhole

Mosaic’s Walt Precourt: Our community, our responsibility