Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a pilot project that would allow a company to build a small road made from a radioactive fertilizer byproduct, drawing the ire of environmentalists.
The Biden administration approval allows Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to build a road made of phosphogypsum at his property in New Wales, Florida.
Phosphogypsum contains radium, which decays to form radon gas, both of which are radioactive and can cause cancer, according to the agency.
In the past, the agency has raised concerns about the use of this material in road construction. He said it in 1992 that the use of phosphogypsum in road construction created risks both for construction workers and for anyone who later builds a house where the phosphogypsum road once stood.
The agency now says that citizens are not expected to come into contact with the road.
However, Mosaic, which will build the road, has described the effort as part of a pilot project that will “demonstrate the range of … road construction designs.” It’s unclear whether additional road construction will follow, though doing so would likely require more approvals.
Ragan Whitlock, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a written statement that the EPA’s decision was “mind-boggling.”
“This dramatically increases the potential for damage to our road equipment and water quality,” Whitlock said. “The EPA has caved to political pressure from the phosphate industry and paved the way for this hazardous waste to be used on roads across the country.”
In 2020, under the Trump administration, the EPA approved the use of phosphogypsum in the construction of government roads.
this approval was withdrawn under the Biden administration, which he described as a broad and sweeping request. It is unclear whether the incoming Trump administration will seek to reinstate it.
Typically, phosphogypsum is kept in “stacks” as part of an attempt to limit public exposure, although this approach has it also raised environmental concerns – especially in states like Florida that are prone to storms.
In approving the road plan, the EPA said it was “as protective of human health as placement in a pile.”
