There is a new development in the sinkhole at the Mosaic New Wales gypsum stack in Polk County.

  • Private testing found radiation levels exceeding EPA standards
  • Radiation could be caused by naturally occurring phenomenon
  • Some area residents do not trust negative test results

A private company testing hundreds of nearby private wells said it has found higher-than-drinking-water levels of radiation in a couple of wells. The levels are above the EPA drinking water standard of 15 gross alpha picocuries.

However, those results do not necessarily mean the radiation came from the sinkhole that sent millions of gallons of slightly radioactive water into the aquifer. Naturally occurring radiation emitted by the phosphate rock in Florida's "Bone Valley" region could be responsible.

“The water runs through these natural deposits that contain natural radioactivity," said Dr. Brian Birky, executive director of the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute in Bartow. "So naturally, they pick up some of that material.”

When asked just how much naturally occurring radiation could be found in Florida well water from due to that phenomenon, Birky said amounts could vary greatly.

“Anything from a few picocuries per liter gross alpha to thousands of picocuries,” said Birky.

He also said a silver lining of the sinkhole scare might be that people will get their well water tested as a normal precaution. High levels of radiation in water can cause cancers over the long term.

Nearby resident Christine Vining said testing showed her well water was within safe limits. But she is still only drinking bottled water.

“I don’t want to get sick in ten years because of this,” said Vining.

The private company testing the well water said the higher-than-drinking-water standards of radiation in a couple of wells is unlikely linked to the sinkhole. They point to the fact that the water does not also have high levels of fluoride and sulfates, other contaminates from the sinkhole.

However, the company said it will do additional testing on the water from the wells in question.