By Lindsay Potter
In June, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing road construction using radioactive phosphogypsum, which the EPA says contains appreciable quantities of uranium and radium-226. The production of one ton of phosphoric acid for fertilizer generates over five tons of radioactive phosphogypsum waste, which is stored in 25 large, open air “gypstacks,” that cause hazardous runoff and water pollution. As the radioactivity decays it releases radon gas, the second-leading cause of lung cancer, responsible for 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S., according to the EPA. In 2021, a breach at the Piney Point phosphate mine spilled 215 million gallons of toxic water into Tampa Bay, leading to a red tide event and giant fish kill, and a $3 million cleanup. The EPA banned use of phosphogypsum for decades, though DeSantis wants to exploit an exemption for “research.” Attorney Elise Bennett of the Center for Biological Diversity, said the Florida law is a “reckless handout to the fertilizer industry” that “opens the door for dangerous radioactive waste to be dumped in roadways … under the [cover] of a so-called feasibility study that won’t address serious health and safety concerns.”
— CBS News and NPR, June 30, 2023
