More than half a dozen conservation and environmental organizations have sued the Trump administration. They say the federal government has failed to respond to requests for better oversight of toxic waste from fertilized production and phosphate mining.
In 1991 the EPA exempted phosphoric acid waste byproducts from federal hazardous waste regulations. Ragan Whitlock is a staff attorney from the Center for Biological Diversity, a plaintiff in the suit. Whitlock said this decision put corporate greed over public health and safety.
“The EPA passed this regulation back decades ago, and it has done nothing to protect human health and safety in the interim. It’s time for them to address these problems moving forward instead of sitting and waiting for the regular for the regulated industry to do it themselves.”
Whitlock said multi-billion dollar phosphate companies like Mosaic have sought for years to deregulate themselves by pushing elected officials and regulators to change the rules.
“Whether now it’s the idea of paving it into roadways or injecting it into underground injection wells in Florida’s delicate soils, the industry is seeking to find a way to make more money. That’s the point of a Fortune 500 company. But the job of the EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is not to cater to the industry’s whims; it’s to protect human health and safety and the environment- and in doing that, they have failed.”
The EPA has found that phosphogypsum byproducts contain radioactive materials, as well as heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium which cause cancer in humans. Other plaintiffs in the suit include Healthy Gulf, Manasota-88, the Sierra Club, and more. For WMNF News, I’m Josh Holton.
Leave a Reply
