On April 3rd, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida following the emergency toxic wastewater reservoir on the brink of collapsing in Manatee County. The leak was first noticed at the end of March. Hundreds were forced to evacuate, but later were able to return after the amounts of dissolved oxygen, salinity, and pH were determined to be within water quality standards by an online database.

“We are talking about the potential of about 600 million gallons (2.3 billion liters) within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes announced.

As of now, with the rainy weather over the weekend millions of gallons of water were added to the leaky lake. The amount of water elevated from 217 million gallons to 221 million gallons of water.

“We are talking about the potential of about 600 million gallons (2.3 billion litres) within a matter of seconds and minutes, leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,” Scott Hopes also announced.

HRK Holdings, the company with possession of the reservoir, is being held responsible according to state lawmakers. The estimated fee for total cleanup and closure of the reservoir will be in the neighborhood of $200 million 

No serious damage has happened yet.