PHOSPHATE MINES CONTINUE TO DESTROY THE FLORIDA ENVIRONMENT
Dr. George Meanwell
For nearly three generations, the Florida phosphate industry has claimed that any adverse environmental impacts on Florida citizens in surrounding areas are minimal. However, current phosphate industry mining practices conveniently “overlook” what are proven to be sound environmental practices, causing unwanted hazardous collateral damage to the Florida landscape as though it is their “right” to do so.
In the past two decades, the Unites States Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has studied the effects of the radioactive elements that occur naturally in the Florida landscape compared to the highly compacted toxic waste by-product of the Florida phosphate industry. In the areas that are considered economical to mine, the “matrix” layer (which consists of phosphate rock, clay, and sand) is buried well below the surface or “overburden” as it is referred to by the phosphate industry. This toxic by-product (phosphor-gypsum) is left in massive mounds that can be seen throughout central Florida.
These toxic elements are in the decay chain of uranium (called radium) as a solid and radon gas as an air born toxin. These elements are normally confined deep below the surface, but the mighty phosphate dragline strips them from the fabric of the earth until it removes the phosphate matrix it seeks. In doing so, radioactive elements are brought to the surface, highly compacted, and stored in giant highly toxic mounds called phosphor-gypsum stacks (or “gyp stacks”).
The radioactive material is combined with other toxic waste by-products and piled in gyp stacks, some of which are over two hundred feet in height and may cover over four hundred acres. That is the equivalent to a twenty story building covering four hundred acres of radioactive materials. Florida is home to at least twenty seven radioactive gyp stacks and each toxic stack is still growing. The gyp stacks are SO toxic that the DEP will not allow the phosphate industry to move the phosphor-gypsum off site.
The areas around phosphate facilities in central Florida usually consist of agricultural area, with some residential. The surrounding flora absorb the toxic elements caused by phosphate mining, and store cumulative amounts of toxins so that toxic materials move from the ground into the food chain, primarily through agriculture and cattle ranching. Both domesticated and wild animals are exposed to the same tainted food sources, introducing the toxins into the entire local food chain.
In one decade, at least six gyp stacks have failed in west central Florida due to their massive weight. When a gyp stack “fails” it causes a surface collapse sinkhole to form in the bottom of the gyp stack, and can then allow billions of gallons of toxic waste to drain through the sinkhole and into Floridian aquifer system. In one stack failure, the amount of environmental damage was so extensive that the DEP was unable to determine the total loss associated with the spill.
In another stack failure, a 150 foot hole opened under a gyp stack and 80 million tons of radioactive toxic waste disappeared into the Floridian aquifer, which contains about 90 percent of central Florida’s drinking water. The toxic waste amount overwhelmed officials so much that the amount of environmental damage was again, undetermined. It cost almost $7 million to fill the sinkhole with concrete. In another phosphate industry induced accident, a gyp stack failed and almost 2 million gallons of radioactive toxic waste flowed over the landscape and two cars driving by the plant were carried away with the flow of toxic waste.
In another gyp stack breach in Riverview, Florida, it cost nearly $30 million in repair costs for the phosphate plant. The cost to recover from the severe local environmental impacts that were caused by the failed gyp-stack were covered by Florida taxpayers. Each time a phosphate industry “accident” occurs, both water and air quality degrade, causing health issues for many Floridians as well.
Sadly, central Florida’s phosphate industry locates their facilities in watersheds where the production of fertilizer causes the greatest environmental damage to the landscape, drinking water, wild animals, and human inhabitants. Phosphate facilities severely pollute and disrupt the landscape locally and miles away from mining operations due to phosphate facilities built in central Florida’s watershed. This is because watersheds and lowlands are nature’s way of cleaning toxic materials from drinking water resources as the water percolates through karst rock formations into Florida’s aquifers below.
Florida’s phosphate facilities are considered by the DEP to be the greatest threat to Florida’s
environment including land and aquatic life forms. Indisputably, the greatest offender is The Mosaic Company, which in 2016 allowed over 200 million gallons of radioactive water to be dumped into the aquifer in Polk County. This happened despite the fact that there were indications that a sinkhole was forming, and the threat of contamination was kept hidden from neighbors.
The examples mentioned above illustrate the poor environmental stewardship from the phosphate industry, which is now focused on north-central Florida. However, the Hazen, Howard, Pritchett, and Shadd families (organized as HPS II Enterprises) have proposed a massive phosphate mining operation together with Mosaic on over 10,000 acres that span portions of both Bradford and Union counties.
HPS II Enterprises is a new company with no experience in what it is trying to do. They claim to have a new mining procedure, but have provided no evidence of this. Rather, they have shown blatant disregard for proper legal procedures, with three recent violations. Specifically, they were cited on March 15, 2016 by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) for engaging in dredge and fill activities in wetlands with no permits, and making illegal drainage ditches. They also admitted to the construction of 38 water wells without permits, receiving only a miniscule fine of $400 from SRWMD.
The fact that HPS II Enterprises partner, Mosaic Company has had numerous spills and contaminations in the past, and yet continue to pollute should give us pause. However, Jack Hazen brazenly boasts that, “God has made me his instrument to make this project a reality.” Like the legendary tycoons (e.g., J. Pierpont Morgan, Alfred Vanderbilt, etc.) of the previous century, this is a man who cares only about increasing his massive fortune, with no real regard for the sanctity of human life or the health of others.
There are many reasons to reject this and ALL phosphate mining in Florida, as it is one of the most polluting industries that we have in this state. Contrary to what Mosaic Company and other “experts” say, we do not need the phosphate industry here. Phosphorus is a renewable resource and reliable estimates indicate that we have enough phosphate rock resources to last between 300 and 400 more years.
Most importantly, Florida is far more vulnerable to damage from phosphate mining than any other state for the simple reason that its sub-surface geology is dramatically different. Underneath a thin layer of dirt, the entire Florida peninsula has a sub-surface that is essentially a porous plateau of carbonate rock that is not solid, but rather, contains numerous
watersheds that store and transmit groundwater, in what is referred to as the “Floridian aquifer system.” These permeable aquifers contain almost all of the fresh water resources for the population of north-central Florida.
Additionally, the phosphate mine proposed by HPS II Enterprises in Bradford and Union counties poses substantial water impacts on the Santa Fe River system, including harmful draw-down and pollution. The river is a major economic resource for its adjacent area. HPS II Enterprises has proven to be irresponsible in respecting rules and regulations, and the probability of an environmental catastrophe is high. The threat of a phosphate mine to the Santa Fe River system alone is catastrophic.
Phosphate mines have been shown to threaten and cause serious and long-lasting harm to Florida’s natural resources, and most importantly its aquifer system and the drinking water for millions of Florida citizens. The phosphate industry in Florida has a long history of accidents, environmental destruction and bankruptcy, leaving behind millions in liabilities that taxpayers have had to clean up. The proposal of a phosphate mine in north-central Florida by HPS II Enterprises is wrong for many reasons. People like those running HPS, who sell their souls in such small quantities – believing that they are within their rights, but allowing a seemingly trivial compromise here or rationalization of a minor evil there – really don’t realize what they’re doing until it is too late.
Florida Phosphate Mines Show Adverse Effects On The Environment, David Hammock, http:// EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Hammock/2169591
Phosphate Companies and EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory, http://www.fipr.state.fl.us/about-us/ phosphate-primer/phosphate-companies-and-epas-toxic-release-inventory/
NCSU Water Quality Group, Human Impacts: Wetland Loss and Degradation, http://water.ncsu.edu/ watershedss/info/wetlands/wetloss.html
Conservation Report February 2017, Suwannee – St. Johns Group Sierra Club, http://ssjsierra.org/ conservation-report-february-2017/