Fla. Plan to Build Road With Radioactive Waste Prompts Suit Against the EPA

"The project, located east of Tampa, involves phosphogypsum, a radioactive, carcinogenic and toxic waste generated by the fertilizer industry."

"ORLANDO, Fla.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency faces a legal challenge after approving a controversial plan to include radioactive waste in a road project late last year.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed the challenge Wednesday in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals under the Clean Air Act. The advocacy group says the federal agency has prohibited the use of phosphogypsum, a radioactive, carcinogenic and toxic waste generated by the fertilizer industry, in road construction since 1992, citing an “unacceptable level of risk to public health.”

The legal challenge is centered on a road project proposed at the New Wales facility of Mosaic Fertilizer, a subsidiary of The Mosaic Company, some 40 miles east of Tampa. The EPA approved the project in December 2024, noting the authorization applied only to the single project and included conditions meant to ensure the project would remain within the scope of the application. But Ragan Whitlock, Florida staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, feared the project could lead to more roadways built with the toxic waste."

Amy Green reports for Inside Climate News February 22, 2025.