October 22, 2020
By Craig Pitman
We’ve got toll roads that were built using fudged financial figures (Looking at you, Polk Parkway and Suncoast Parkway). We’ve got a Bridge to Nowhere that was built purely to benefit the then-speaker of the House but then went bankrupt (Hi there, Garcon Point Bridge). We’ve got a trio of expensive highways now under consideration that are opposed by the public but supported by wealthy roadbuilders and the politicians who took their campaign contributions.
But now we may soon see Florida roads that are built on something new: radioactive waste from phosphate mines.
When phosphate companies turn their mined rock into fertilizer, they produce about five tons of phosphogypsum waste to every ton of fertilizer. Since 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has banned using that phosphogypsum waste for construction projects or anything else because it exceeds the level of radioactivity regarded as safe for humans.
With no other way to dispose of so much radioactive waste, the industry stacks it in huge piles, known as phosphogypsum stacks. The stacks tower over the flat Florida landscape. There are 25 of them scattered around the state and they can be up to 200 feet high.
Last week, with absolutely no notice to the public, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the agency had changed its mind about phosphogypsum waste. Now, Wheeler said, the stuff that the EPA once deemed too dangerous is considered safe enough to use in building roads....
Trump doesn't want a federal authority that regulates anything. This is Trump and his arrogance to expose the American people to dangerous carcinogens because they already live too long.
Gypstacks (click here) are engineered features and are highly regulated. Federal regulations require phosphogypsum to be stored in stacks because of naturally occurring radionuclides in the mined phosphate rock. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has developed stringent standards regarding the design, operation, maintenance, closure and long-term care of gypstacks.
Don't forget your Dosimetry Badge (click here) to know if the road your traveling on has emitted more allowable radiation. This is Trump's economy.
Phosphogypsum (PG), (click here) primary byproduct from phosphoric acid production, is accumulated in large stockpiles and occupies vast areas of land. Phosphogypsum is a technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TE-NORM) that contains radionuclides from 238U and 232Th decay series which are of most radio-toxicity....
Phosphogypsum is a waste product from the production of phosphoric acid. Our roads are going to be radioactive and a radioactive hazard to human health to satisfy the demands of China.
...The primary market for phosphoric acid (click here) is the production of the phosphate fertilizer products—ammonium phosphates and triple superphosphates. Fertilizer production accounts for an estimated 80% of the global market for phosphoric acid and animal feed for about 6%. The remainder is consumed in a variety of industrial applications.
Since 2010, there have been several consolidations and capacity reductions in the United States. In Latin America, the first half of 2018 saw a reduction in demand for phosphate fertilizers because of lower food prices. In the second half, demand is expected to rise following increases in soybean prices.
Fueled by the rapid growth in the Chinese economy and the growing need for phosphate fertilizers, China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of phosphoric acid. From 2008 to 2018, phosphoric acid capacity in China grew at an average annual rate of 3.1%. Phosphoric acid production and consumption grew at an average annual rate of 4.5% and 4.6%, respectively, during the same period. It is projected that phosphoric acid production and consumption in China will experience slower yet moderate growth between 2018 and 2023....
