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Gov. Scott calls for changes following massive pollution spill, sinkhole

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Gov. Rick Scott said a new rule will give businesses 24 hours to notify the public when they dump pollution.

Some neighbors in Mulberry told Channel 9's Michael Lopardi they feel like they were left in the dark after a massive sinkhole opened in Polk County in late August.

The governor admitted the current rules for notifying the public don’t make sense. The only rule requires that the public be notified when the pollutant moves off site.

However, that didn’t happen at the Mosaic Phosphate Plant, and neighbors found out about the pollution spill last week.

“We clearly have a law with regard to public notification that didn't make any sense,” Scott said.

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The governor has ordered an emergency rule that will force businesses and governments to tell the public about similar incidents within 24 hours.

“There ought to be public notification right away. It's an outdated law. That's why we did the emergency rule,” Scott said.

The sinkhole allowed hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated water to spill into the aquifer that provides water to large parts of the state. The governor said the company followed the existing law, which only required notifying the state, and staffers arrived within 24 hours.

“In 20/20 hindsight, Mosaic wishes we had done outreach to the nearby communities sooner,” said David Jellerson, Mosaic employee.

Those communities include neighbor Kathy Houston, who uses a well and was furious to just learn about the spill last week.

“It should be common sense. That should be common courtesy. You have people's lives around here. There's children that live in this area,” said Houston.

Mosaic told Eyewitness News that it supports the governor's change and is offering free well testing to neighbors.

The governor did not offer an apology for the state's response to this incident, and dodged a question about whether the state should've notified the public sooner, regardless of the law.

Scott plans to push for tougher penalties during the next legislative session.