Requests for well testing have flooded in a week after Mosaic announced it had a 45-foot wide sinkhole on its property that was releasing 215 million gallons of contaminated water into the ground.

  • 210 well tests scheduled so far
  • Early results indicate contaminated water did not reach wells
  • Mosaic reportedly paying $1,000 per well tested

As of 6:50 p.m. Thursday, Mosaic reported that 210 well tests had been scheduled. Amy Gibson is one of the homeowners who requested the test.

“I  can only hope that it comes back that there’s nothing in it," said Gibson, who said she wanted to make sure her children had clean drinking water. "I can’t guarantee that what they test today isn’t going to be something in the water in a week or two.”

Mosaic said it will continue to test neighbors’ wells and is developing a plan to do so.

Private testing company Environmental Consulting and Technology, Inc. reported it has completed 52 of the well tests and received partial results for 20 of them.

Gary Uebelhoer, an ECT senior executive, said the tests looked for higher than normal levels of minerals such as sodium, sulfate and fluoride and didn’t find any, leading Uebelhoer to conclude the contaminated water didn’t reach those 20 wells when they were tested Monday and Tuesday.

“The pH is neutral, and the Mosaic water is acidic," Uebelhoer said. "If the Mosaic water had reached these wells, we would not be seeing neutral pH levels."

Uebelhoer said radioactivity testing results won’t be in for another two weeks. According to him, Mosaic is paying $1,000 per well tested, and he wants homeowners to be confident in the results.

Mosaic is also giving bottled water to homeowners waiting for their wells to be tested.

“If our company, which is employee-owned and has over 150 employees, were to be found on this project or on any project to be rigging tests, or falsifying data or not reporting poor results, we run the risk of losing this license,” Uebelhoer said.

While ECT crews sampled the well water, a worker from the Department of Environmental Protection was there collecting samples as well.

Mosaic executives estimate it will cost $20 to $50 million to fill the sinkhole, and the company doesn’t expect to begin that work for several months. It has to develop a remediation plan first.

Meanwhile, three Central Florida residents filed a federal lawsuit against Mosaic Thursday, accusing it of purposely disregarding health risks and the environment.