Washington-SANA
The US state of Florida declared a state of emergency today after contaminated water leaked from a large pool in which toxic sewage had accumulated in Tampa Bay.
"Orders were issued to evacuate more than 300 homes in the area, in addition to closing the highway near the Penny Point reservoir, where residents received text messages on their phones asking them to leave their homes immediately in anticipation of an imminent collapse," the American Fox News network quoted state authorities as saying. .
Officials said the 77-acre pond contains billions of liters of water contaminated with phosphorous and nitrogen, which was produced by an old phosphate plant.
Earlier attempts to stop the leak were unsuccessful, despite the authorities' use of stones and other materials to block the hole through which the toxic materials came out.
Thousands of liters are being pumped every minute to reduce the volume of water in the reservoir, while other workers control the flow of this water and direct it to non-dangerous areas. By declaring a state of emergency, money can be spent to send more pumps and cranes to the area.
