Pollution in the path of Hurricane Milton in Florida

As Hurricane Milton churns toward Tampa, Floridians are rightfully focused on evacuating their families and their belongings for their immediate safety. But some things are immovable — and a set of polluting facilities in the path of the storm surge could create a toxic aftermath for the region.

As noted in our Accidents Waiting to Happen series, the Tampa area hosts at least two power plants with coal ash ponds. Coal ash contains toxic substances such as arsenic, lead, selenium and chromium. If those ash ponds overflow — as has happened elsewhere — then those toxic substances could flow into communities or drinking water sources.

Central Florida also hosts a number of facilities storing phosphogypsum, the waste left over after processing phosphate into fertilizer. This waste can be radioactive, but more commonly, it contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which contribute to red tide, toxic algae and fish kills. In March 2021, the Piney Point phosphogypsum waste pond leaked, and 215 million gallons of wastewater flowed into Tampa Bay. 

“There are currently about 1 billion tons of phosphogypsum stacked in 24 stacks in Florida and about 30 million new tons are generated each year,” according to Florida Polytechnic University.   Twenty-two of these stacks are located around Tampa in Manatee, Polk and Hillsborough Counties. There is at least some risk that one of these facilities hosts a repeat of Piney Point if inundated by Milton’s storm surge.

The greater Tampa area also hosts a number of Superfund sites, including 12 in Hillsborough County. The threat of floodwaters moving highly toxic substances off-site into waterways and communities is a major public health concern, as our researchers explained in our Perfect Storm report.

When our economy generates huge amounts of hazardous waste, and then we allow that waste to be located in the path of major storms, we are creating accidents waiting to happen. For more on this pollution pattern and ways we can prevent it, check out our latest Accidents Waiting to Happen resource.

In the meantime, we are thinking of our friends and colleagues in Florida, and hope that everyone stays safe in the days ahead.