Florida lawmakers just proposed two bills, Senate Bill 1258 and House Bill 1191, approving the use of radioactive waste called phosphogypsum in roads. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently bans this toxic waste in roadway construction because it’s way too dangerous for public health and the environment. 

It’s the toxic waste produced when turning phosphate into phosphoric acid, used in synthetic fertilizer. Phosphogypsum is radioactive, releasing cancer-causing radon gas. It can also containother carcinogens and toxic heavy metals and emits very high levels of two kinds of radiation — gross alpha and beta radiation — compared to levels in most soils.

Because of its well-known health risks, right now the EPA requires it to be stored in piles (called gypstacks) that are hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall. More than 1 billion tons are already stored in 25 stacks in Florida. These stacks are prone to devastating accidents — like the spill at Piney Point and sinkholes at New Wales — that threaten Tampa Bay and the Floridan aquifer.

Short answer: No way.

Long answer: The EPA has banned the use of phosphogypsum in roads since 1992 because the agency found too many ways that could expose the public (especially road-construction workers) to an unacceptably high cancer risk. In the EPA’s own words, it “contains appreciable quantities of radium-226, uranium, and other uranium decay products.” Radium-226 has a 1,600-year half-life — meaning it will linger in the environment long after most roads crumble. 

The EPA has also found that using phosphogypsum in roads can harm nearby water resources through the leaching of trace metals and radioactive particles called radionuclides. These toxic bits of matter can also get into the air — where people and animals can breathe them in — via wind and vehicle traffic.

Synthetic fertilizer companies want to put phosphogypsum in roads because they’re running out of places to dump their toxic waste — millions of tons of it every year. The Mosaic Company, one of the world’s biggest phosphate mining and fertilizer-production corporations, is also one of the biggest proponents of using phosphogypsum in road construction because it wants to escape the costs of having to manage its own waste. Trying to minimize the danger of this practice, the company asserts that other countries allow it. And yes, some countries — including China, Russia and Morocco — do permit the use of this material in roads. 

But that doesn’t make it safe. Another nation’s willingness to expose its citizens to pollution doesn’t mean the United States should disregard everything we know about the health consequences. To illustrate that point: Fewer than half of countries worldwide have laws to protect people from lead in paint. But it would still be reckless and illogical for the United States to remove those laws, even if doing so helped the paint industry make more money.

Besides, the situation in Florida makes using phosphogypsum in roads even more dangerous than in in other countries — in no small part because the version of it that’s generated in West-Central Florida, the nation’s major phosphate-fertilizer-producing region, is among the most radioactive in the world. 

Here’s a basic timeline:

1992: Following a request from the fertilizer industry to use phosphogypsum in roads, the EPA determined that would present an unacceptable risk to public health and prohibited it.

2020: Under Trump, following another request from the fertilizer industry, the EPA illegally reversed its longstanding policy, approving the use of phosphogypsum in roads to save the industry money.

2021: After a lawsuit and petition by a workers’ union, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other conservation and public health groups, the EPA withdrew that unlawful approval.

2022: The fertilizer industry advocated for a bill that attempted to override the EPA and permit the use of phosphogypsum in federal road construction projects. The bill failed.

2023: Under pressure from the fertilizer industry, Florida legislators Sen. Jay Trumbull (R-Panama City) and Rep. Lawrence McClure (R-Dover)proposed new bills to do basically the same thing. 

If you’re a Florida resident, you can help us defeat these bills — take action now.

Why should these bills fail?

Because putting radioactive phosphogypsum in roads would be terrible for Floridians.

These bills may seem less dangerous than the 2022 bill because they’d “only” allow its use in “demonstration” road projects across the state. But whether the projects are meant for demonstration or not, they could cause permanent harm. And using Florida roads as a testing ground could easily lead to allowing phosphogypsum in road projects nationwide, despite the ample evidence of its risks and harms. Florida shouldn’t be a guinea pig in the fertilizer industry’s reckless experiment.

The bills would give Florida an unreasonably short time to study the feasibility of phosphogypsum in road construction, forcing the Florida Department of Transportation to finish an analysis by Jan. 1, 2024. It isn’t necessary to finish the study that fast, and the short timeline won’t let the agency thoroughly review health and safety consequences. Besides, the EPA has already extensively studied the use of this material in roads — and concluded it isn’t safe.

Putting it in roads would let fertilizer companies off the hook for the vast amounts of dangerous waste they create each year, while also generating another cash stream for industry giants. One of those, the Mosaic Company, reported a net income of $3.6 billion in 2022 alone. It definitely doesn’t need a government handout to save on costs.

Finally, allowing roads to be built with this toxic waste would clear the way for the industry to make even more of it. 

Bottom line: Using radioactive phosphogypsum in roads is dangerous and isn’t a solution to the fertilizer industry’s toxic waste problem. It’s time to hold the industry accountable for the waste that threatens Florida’s environment and burdens our communities and taxpayers.