EPA approves pilot project to make road out of radioactive material in Florida

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

12/23/24 5:11 PM ET


The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a pilot project that would allow a company to build a small road made out of a radioactive fertilizer byproduct — drawing environmentalist ire.

The Biden administration’s approval allows Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to construct a road made of phosphogypsum on its property in New Wales, Fla. 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 building. It said in 1992 that use of phosphogypsum in road construction created risks for both construction workers and also anyone who later builds a home where the phosphogypsum road had once been.

The agency now says that members of the public 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 not clear if additional road construction will follow — though doing so would likely require further approvals.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5054335-epa-approves-phosphogypsum-road-florida/

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Link to Federal Register PUBLICATION - Notice of Approval for Other Use of Phosphogypsum

[LetsGetSmartAboutIt]

1. I'm sure it'll be in the highest income areas

So everyone can have a healthy glow.

Maybe even the street that the factory owner lives on, just to show how safe it is.

Just to be clear, that is sarcasm.

[rampartd]

3. amd, of course this stuff is done in poor black neighborhoods

here is a radioactive dump site in my city .....

https://www.nola.com/news/environment/in-gert-town-area-e-t--style-radiation-removal-spawns-confusion-tinged-by-pollution/article_e622d82a-aa3b-11e9-98ba-b3762290fc5e.html

corporate america has caused so much injury and disease they OWE us healthcare.

[rampartd]

2. street provides its own lighting

and the alligators and such near the road can't possibly mutate?

https://www.thoughtco.com/chernobyl-animal-mutations-4155348

[cstanleytech]

21. Sounds a lot like what is speculated as one of the things that helped kick off evolution.

[rampartd]

22. perhaps the gift we leave the surviving species as we slouch towards extinction

those crocodilian archaeologists of the tear 3024 will have to wonder what manner of creature could excrete radioactive gypsum.

[cstanleytech]

23. I'm kinda meh over it though as the problems with the radon seem to occur when it's long term concentration.

That's why houses with problems with it vent it outside so as to lower the exposure rate and there is a huge difference also to this and to what's around Chernobyl.

[rampartd]

24. after katrina, thousands of hhomes repaired with "chinese drywall" essentially radioactive gypsum

had to rip out and rebuild again.

i had wondered how corporate america would turn that into a profit.

[cstanleytech]

32. That makes sense because it's in a confined area but roads are open allowing it to dispers.

[2naSalit]

4. They'll find a way...

To use it in school playgrounds like they did in Idaho, the child cancer rate got really high for a while after that.

[maxsolomon]

15. Phosphogypsum used in playground surfaces?

I can't find anything online about that. I see Idaho has phosphogypsum mining, though.

[2naSalit]

16. Yup...

And they don't like to talk about that. They were using slag from the mines for roads and playground pavements back in the 70s - 80s and was identified as a problem in the early to mid 90s. Wasn't just child cancer rates. It was swept under the rug pretty quickly as will happen in a place where the church controls everything.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. When it rains, the radioactive material will leach into the surrounding soil.

And eventually, the radioactive material will reach the water aquifers below. It will affect both humans and wildlife and horticulture.

I can't believe the EPA gave this a pass.

[djacq]

6. 110 Percent Dum

[Bengus81]

7. Trump approved it, Biden stopped it's approval years ago but what...the EPA head and others decided to re-instate it?

Hoping he can keep his job when Trump comes back in? Hey asshat,you go work on a road project with that crap.

[Jose Garcia]

8. Trump had already picked Lee Zeldin to head the EPA

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Current EPA head Michael Regan

announced he was leaving on Dec. 31st. - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143359932

[Clouds Passing]

10. What else could go wrong in Florida?

[Cherokee100]

11. This is

This a joke, right? That stuff never goes away/becomes safe. Wait what was I thinking, someone is making a fortune, off this I bet. That makes it ok then. '''sarcasm''.

[NotHardly]

12. Just when you think Florida could not get stupider...

[maxsolomon]

13. A little more on this PILOT project:

The agency now says that members of the public 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 not clear if additional road construction will follow — though doing so would likely require further approvals.

Typically, phosphogypsum is held in “stacks” as part of an attempt to limit public exposure, though this approach has also spurred environmental concerns — particularly in states like Florida that are prone to storms.

This report does a really bad job of explaining what's going on here. But it's the Hill, so par for the course.

I'd guess they're trying to find a use for phosphogypsum as a concrete additive.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. I included a link to the Federal Register notice

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/23/2024-30508/notice-of-approval-for-other-use-of-phosphogypsum

That link has some more info.

"The Hill", like "Politico", "Roll Call", and some other publications focus on "politics" stories only instead of trying to insert and pad their "news" sites with entertainment - meaning not finding every angle possible to write about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

[maxsolomon]

17. "the project is at least as protective of public health as maintaining the phosphogypsum in a stack."

There are hills ( AKA "stacks" ) of phosphogypsum piled up all over the nation, so I think Mosaic's trying to figure out some other way to deal with the waste stream.

It's research. Research is OK with me.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. WTF? We are slipping into insanity. And Rod Serling isn't narrating anymore.

[Evolve Dammit]

20. It's the radioactivity stupid. It has HALF-lives of thousands of years. No better way to tell future generations FU.

[NutmegYankee]

25. Long half-lives usually means less dangerous.

Short half life materials throw out radioactive decay particles or gamma rays at a much higher rate. Uranium for instance is really a low risk to handle. What causes more issues is that many radioactive elements are also heavy metals and bad if ingested. But some like potassium 40 are not and have half lives in the billions of year. This isotope is found in every banana on the planet.

The waste product above is caused by concentrating the heavy metals and radioactive elements from the rock ore, and that is what made it dangerous compared to the original ore.

[sakabatou]

26. It shall be named "Cancer Road"

[FBaggins]

27. Entirely missing from the article is any relevant data

We have been building road surfaces (and homes) from radioactive material for centuries (they’re called bricks).

The activity source (radium/radon from decay of uranium) appears to be the same and the concentration appears to be similar.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. "Entirely missing from the article is any relevant data"

Why would there be any "data" when this research project hasn't even started yet?

And if one wants to "insert data" from something perhaps parallel/related, but do so in a "mainstream/non-scientific" type article like this simply reporting the EPA's posting in the Federal Register, then most readers' eyes would roll unless they are in one of the STEM fields (like myself as a retired chemist).

[Oneear]

28. Mar-a-Lago Beach Club needs new Black Top Seal would this Work?

for the Drive and Golf Cart Paths

[LymphocyteLover]

30. but why???? Why is this material necessary? Aren't there thousands of other things

that could be used instead?

[travelingthrulife]

31. I remember when they assured us they would have a plan for spent radiation

by the time they needed it when they sold us on nuclear power plants the first time around. Still not a clue what to do with the stuff.