Internal emails may show why state took weeks to notify public about contaminated water in aquifer

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Polk County sinkhole opened up at a fertilizer plant and dumped toxic water into the aquifer where communities get their water.

Internal state email could explain why the public wasn’t notified until much later.

One of the first emails is from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to the governor's office.

The email is dated Sept. 16, about two weeks after the sinkhole opened under a pool of contaminated water at the Mosaic phosphate plant, sending 215 million gallons directly into the Florida aquifer.

The 16th was when the public was informed of biological contamination.

"To wait three weeks to tell the people about this, when there are parts of the aquifer where water flows at 300 feet a day,” environmental advocate Chuck O’Neal said, adding that the state has put business ahead of safety.

"What we have right now is a free for all for business,” O’Neal said.  .

New emails, obtained by 9 Investigates’ Christopher Heath, show that about the same time the sinkhole was opening, The Florida Phosphate Political committee was inviting the lieutenant governor to a dinner.

When the spill was reported to the public, Mosaic began sending talking points to Sen. Marco Rubio’s office, highlighting its comprehensive-monitoring system and sampling regimens.

There are also numerous emails between the governor’s office and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, not on what went wrong or the cleanup, but on the public relations strategy for getting the message together.

There was also an email from a public relations firm working for Mosaic, to the state with excerpts from a speech from Mosaic’s senior vice president to the Polk County Board of Commissioners.

There are more than 500 pages of emails about the sinkhole, almost all created after the sinkhole information became public.

Since the sinkhole became public, DEP has sent daily briefings of its efforts to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, environmental advocates say the emails show the governor, along with the general public, were kept in the dark about the sinkhole for weeks.

The governor has called for legislation that would make notification immediate, but it won’t be considered until next spring.

Cox Media Group