Leak at wastewater pond prompts evacuations in Florida

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is declaring a state of emergency after a significant leak at a storage pond of wastewater threatened to cause floods and collapse a system with radioactive material.

Officials in Florida were evacuating homes and a highway Saturday in the area north of Bradenton, Florida.

It is not yet clear how many residents are impacted.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said a breakout was detected Friday in one of the walls of a 77-acre pond, holding millions of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.