ORLANDO, Fla. — Conservation groups across the Southeast United States are urging Gov. DeSantis to veto a bill that would allow the use of radioactive fertilizer waste in road construction across the state.
The bill passed by legislators permits the use of toxic phosphogypsum in “demonstration” road projects in Florida. Critics said this is the first step in a phosphate industry push to eventually use the waste in roads nationwide.
The Environmental Protection Agency prohibits using the toxic phosphate waste in roadway construction because it poses an unacceptable risk to road construction workers, public health and the environment.
Phosphogypsum is the radioactive waste leftover from fertilizer production.
In 2020 the Trump-era EPA approved the use of phosphogypsum in roads. Following a lawsuit and petition by the Center and other conservation, public health and union groups, in 2021 the agency withdrew that approval.
Florida has 25 piles of phosphogypsum; they weigh one billion tons, are hundreds of acres expansive, and are hundreds of feet tall. According to opponents of the bill, the industry has a lousy record of containing the material from sinkholes and spills. They threaten Tampa Bay and the Floridian aquifer.
Will Ron Desantis sign the bill? Likely, Florida is where Woke goes to die.
From the People For Protecting Peace River press release:
HB 1191 and its companion SB 1258 would authorize a study on the feasibility of FDOT using the toxic waste, phosphogypsum, as road building material in the state of Florida.
Phosphogypsum is the end waste of phosphate mining and synthetic fertilizer production. Phosphogypsum has radiation levels that are unacceptably high for public exposure according to the EPA.
Furthermore, the bill requires this study to be completed by Jan. 1, 2024; far too rushed a time frame when considering public health.
Using this material under our roads would spread this dangerous pollutant around the state even as we have had unprecedented rain events like Ian that have washed out our roads.