The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a project based in Florida that uses radioactive waste.
The EPA approved Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC’s request to use phosphogypsum on private land. Phosphogypsum is a byproduct created during phosphate fertilizer production. When left exposed, phosphogypsum “severely damages soils, water systems, atmosphere and other environments,” according to a study.
In its notice of approval, the EPA said, “Mosaic’s request is complete per the requirements of EPA’s National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and that the potential radiological risks from conducting the pilot project meet the regulatory requirement that the project is at least as protective of public health as maintaining the phosphogypsum in a stack.”
The approval “applies only to the proposed pilot project and not any broader use.”
“Results from multiple modeling efforts indicate that risks due to the proposed pilot project are low,” the notice adds. “EPA believes that for this existing site, it is most appropriate to consider the potential risk to site workers and the nearest residents to the site when determining whether the pilot project is as protective as leaving the phosphogypsum in the stack. No comments raised topics which EPA did not consider in its technical evaluation or lead to a concern for human health or environmental impacts not previously considered.”
An attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, Ragan Whitlock, called the approval “mind-blogging.”
“The well-documented harm to public health and the environment from this kind of waste leaking out of radioactive phosphogypsum storage stacks should be leading to better oversight of Florida’s biggest polluters,” Whitlock said in a statement obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. “Instead the EPA has bowed to political pressure from the phosphate industry and paved the way for this dangerous waste to be used in roads all over the country. We’ll do everything in our power to protect Florida’s people and precious environment from this reckless plan.”
