Mosaic

The neighborhood southeast of Tampa was established decades ago to provide affordable housing for Black residents. Now, Mosaic is planning to expand the nearby gypstack with no apparent input from villagers.

The pile contains phosphogypsum, a radioactive compound required by regulation to be contained in special stacks to prevent exposure. Environmental groups have raised concerns, citing the 2021 Piney Point disaster.

Mosaic said the lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity should be dismissed because it already finished building parts of the road that included phosphogypsum.

If permits are approved, construction at the Riverview plant would begin in 2028, according to a preliminary company presentation.

The EPA approved the pilot project. Attorneys for the agency and Mosaic say the EPA had discretion to sign off on it.

In August, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued draft permits for Mosaic Fertilizer to drill two exploratory wells in Polk County that could be a step toward injecting wastewater underground.

Mosaic, a major player in the state’s phosphate industry, applied in early 2024 for approval to drill exploratory wells at sites in Mulberry and Bartow.

The Center for Biological Diversity is legally challenging the EPA's decision to allow phosphogypsum in the construction project, citing a 1992 federal rule against doing so and cancer risks.

Center for Biological Diversity, an environmentalist group, claims the use of phosphogypsum in the road would increase levels of radon gas, posing a cancer risk to workers and residents.

Federal regulators are seeking comment on their plan to approve the test road bed project in Polk County through Nov. 8.

The phosphate mining company had halted operations across Florida to prevent potential damage from Milton.

One of Florida's biggest phosphate mines is reporting a possible tear in the lining that keeps waste from polluting the environment. But officials say the effects are still unknown.