However, a spokesperson for the agency previously told CBS News that it is permitted for agricultural and indoor research, with restrictions, and it can be approved for specific uses if the project 'is at least as protective of human health as placement in a stack.' The agency also says it's the 'single greatest environmental source of radiation exposure.'īecause of this threat, the EPA has banned the use of phosphogypsum in projects for decades. Radon, the gas emitted from phosphogypsum, trails just smoking to rank as the second-leading cause of lung cancer, and is linked to about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the U.S., according to the EPA. It's the remains left behind from mining phosphate, which is described by the EPA as being a 'radioactive material' because it contains 'small amounts' of uranium and radium. The reservoir held about 480 million gallons of water in March and was in danger of collapsing and flooding the area.īut unlike most of those products, phosphogypsum is not a material that is aggregated in landfills. The list already included ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel, which officials had previously determined are 'part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.' An aerial view of the partially drained New Gypsum Stack South wastewater reservoir at Piney Point in Palmetto, Florida, on May 4, 2021.

The measure, brought forward by the state House, adds phosphogypsum to a list of 'recyclable materials' that state officials say can be used in road construction. Florida to allow building roads with radioactive waste 00:24įlorida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with 'radioactive' mining waste that has been linked to cancer.

Epa traktor bil