Florida’s largest industry is tourism. As one of the top travel destinations in the world, a major attraction of Florida is its abundance in nature-based tours and eco-tourism spots. The shrinking Everglades, receding beaches, and disappearing coral reefs make up a large part of the $57 billion tourism input into Florida’s economy [1]. What happens to the number one industry in Florida when ironically, the second and third largest industries in Florida, agriculture and phosphate respectively, are helping to make it disappear?[2]
Maybe the fear of losing all this beauty is what makes these places more attractive to visitors, but who would want to go to a place that looks like this?
The picture above is from phosphate mining in west central Florida, the world’s richest source of it. Phosphate has been mined in Florida for the last 120 years [2], and the process destroys the environment into an irreversible condition. (There is controversy on the success of restoration of former mining areas). The operation is very crude:
“Miners pull phosphate ore out of the ground, crush it, and throw it into an acid lake, where it separates into white gypsum stacks and a liquid acid that is then processed further to feed crops.”[3]
The step by step explanation is no better [4]:
- First, the area to be mined is stripped of vegetation and the water table is lowered. Even in the first step, the environment is already destroyed. Removing vegetation removes animal life as well as increases soil erosion. A deep trench is dug around the area to lower the water table. Lowering the water table levels increases saltwater intrusion into the aquifers and accelerates sinkhole formation. These are usually problems found from over extension of water demanded and pumped over time, but phosphate companies do this on purpose, increasing the pollution of the water in the communities around the mines. Floridian aquifers are contained under pressure by impermeable sediment to keep water temperature and flow relatively constant. One can only imagine the damage by lowering the water table.[1]
- In the second step, dragline bucket systems, where enormous crane machines drag their buckets, strip away the 20-50 feet of soil and stacks in nearby mined areas. Then the dragline scoops the exposed phosphate ore, mixed with sand and clay, into a pit. This is surface mining, or dragline excavation. This is the process that creates the landscape seen from Google Earth maps of large stadium sized man made gypstacks.
- The ore in the pit is then blasted by high-pressure water jets into a slurry. These create the acid lakes of water polluted beyond repair and huge lakes of death.
- The slurry is pumped by pipeline to a processing plant which separates the sand, clay, and phosphate ore. The phosphate ore is shipped to another plant to process it into fertilizer. The same fertilizer that creates runoff into the waterways after being used on Floridian farms.
On Google maps, instead of the squares of green suburb lawns or small patches of gray and green of the cities, huge acres of dead gray are seen even from outer space. There are no deserts in Florida. These are the stadium sized gypstacks, clay remains from phosphate mining.
“On the south side, the Hardee landscape is typical Florida heartland: Drought-browned pasture stretches mile after mile, dotted by grazing cows, lonely palms and scrub-oak trees. To the north, the view into Polk County is a jarring contrast: Mile after mile of strip-mined earth in shades of gray, with not a tree or other living thing on the horizon.'" [5]
Video credit to AnonTruthandLies, please view in 720 for best quality.
So, What is Phosphate?
Phosphate is used to make the fertilizer that helps farmers maximize yield in crops [3]. Thus, with the demand of agriculture in Florida increases the demand of phosphate as well.
The runoff and the waste produced by phosphate mining is intense on the environment. What does one do with 1 billion tons of phosphogypsum waste [6]?
The Future of Phosphate Mining in Florida:
Phosphate mining is a non-renewable resource and Florida is running out [6]. Thus, the companies are doing a last ditch effort to mine as much as they can out of the area while eyeing the area nearby, expanding their operations. (See the New York Times article about Florida counties trying to contain phosphate mining http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/us/04phosphates.html [7].)
Phosphate mining needs to be stopped before it runs out first. (It has been estimated Florida still has another 25 years of phosphate mining left [8]) The phosphate mining companies need to be held responsible for the damage they have caused to the environment.
"The groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 30, challenging a permit it gave Mosaic to destroy 500 acres of wetlands in an extension of the mine into Hardee County. " [9]
There are still debates whether reclamation of former mines is working.
"The groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 30, challenging a permit it gave Mosaic to destroy 500 acres of wetlands in an extension of the mine into Hardee County. " [9]
There are still debates whether reclamation of former mines is working.
Sign my petition to end phosphate minning at https://www.change.org/p/florida-state-house-ban-the-use-and-extraction-of-phosphate-rock-florida?recruiter=503325476&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
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