TALLAHASSEE, Florida — EPA said Wednesday it has given preliminary approval to a pilot project that would use phosphate mining waste in roads.
The approval, announced in the Federal Register, provides for 30-day public comment period on the EPA approval of the pilot project requested by phosphate giant Mosaic on its property in central Florida.
The move followed state legislation that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law in 2023 allowing phosphogypsum use in roads if approved by the federal agency. The fertilizer industry argues that using phosphogypsum in roads is safer than piling it in towering “stacks” that dot the Central Florida landscape, where phosphate is mined and processed to make fertilizer.
The EPA notice drew criticism from the Center for Biological Diversity, which along with other environmentalists opposed the state legislation that allowed waste to be used for what critics call “radioactive roads.”
