Gov. DeSantis signs bill allowing radioactive material to be built into Florida roads

FLORIDA, Fla. — Gov. DeSantis signed a bill that could pave the way for the use of radioactive fertilizer waste in road construction across the state.

The bill permits the use of toxic phosphogypsum in “demonstration” road projects in Florida. Critics said this is the first step in a phosphate industry push to eventually use of the waste in roads nationwide.

The Environmental Protection Agency prohibits using toxic phosphate waste in roadway construction because it poses an unacceptable risk to road construction workers, public health and the environment.

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Conservation groups across the Southeast United States urged the governor to veto the bill when Florida lawmakers passed it in May.

On Thursday, DeSantis signed HB 1191: Use of Phosphogypsum into law.

The bill authorizes the Department of Transportation “to undertake demonstration projects using phosphogypsum in road construction aggregate material to determine its feasibility as a paving material.”

The bill would require the Florida Department of Transportation to complete a study on the feasibility of using phosphogypsum as a material for road construction, with a short timeline and completion date of April 1, 2024.

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“This dangerous plan to pave Florida’s roads with toxic phosphate mining waste is an egregious handout to an industry that has a lengthy history of damaging the environment and putting public health at risk,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The EPA currently requires that phosphogypsum be stored in piles called “gypstacks” that are hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall.

More than 1 billion tons of radioactive waste are already stored in 25 stacks in Florida.

According to a news release from organizations who opposed this bill, “The industry has a demonstrated history of inadequate management when it comes to phosphogypsum waste. The stacks are prone to spills and sinkholes - like the breach at Piney Point and sinkholes at New Wales - that threaten Tampa Bay and the Floridan Aquifer.”

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In 2020 the Trump-era EPA approved the use of phosphogypsum in roads. Following a lawsuit and petition by the Center and other conservation, public health and union groups, in 2021 the agency withdrew that approval.

Putting radioactive phosphogypsum in roads would let the fertilizer industry off the hook for safely disposing of the millions of tons of dangerous waste it creates each year while generating another cash stream for industry giants, the release stated.

Read: Florida lawmakers pass bill allowing radioactive material to be built into Florida roads

For more information and to read the bill, CLICK HERE.

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