A drone equipped with thermal imaging equipment identified a possible "second breach" in the containment pond wall that is leaking polluted water at the old Piney Point fertilizer plant property.
The drone imaging could be a sign of further structural problems with the wall, or it could be nothing. A Manatee County official said Monday it's not clear if the drone had identified something that already was known about.
A team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was assessing the structural integrity of phosphogypsum stack's containment pond wall Monday, Manatee County officials said. As of Monday afternoon, the worst case scenario - a total collapse of the earthen berm that causes flood water to inundate nearby properties - had been avoided, but the possible identification of additional weakness in the wall could be a concern.