Use of Phosphogypsum as Road Material Approved by EPA for Project in Florida Phosphate Mining Region Should End Lawsuit Led by Radical ‘Center for Biological Diversity,’ Says Mosaic Fertilizer Company

     As I have argued before, the radical environmental group with a science-sounding name, the Center for Biological Diversity, represents the worst of the environmental lawfare movement, suing everyone they can for whatever they can get. They are one of the biggest environmental lawsuit bringers in the U.S. The group’s lawsuit against the Mosaic Fertilizer Company for applying the phosphate mining waste material phosphogypsum, which has some radioactivity, should be ended, says the company, after it applied the material as a road surface component in accordance with the EPA approvals it received. The company, based in Tampa, is in compliance with the EPA and argues that the case should be dismissed.

“Mosaic began construction activities the week of August 25, 2025, and began applying phosphogypsum as road base on October 7, 2025,” the company, which intervened in the case on the side of the EPA, said in Friday’s filing. “It completed all portions of the road that involved phosphogypsum on November 4, 2025. Although Mosaic is still working to complete some ‘control’ sections of the road, those sections do not use any phosphogypsum — they are constructed from common road materials. Mosaic and University of Florida scientists and engineers will also test and monitor the road base as described in the (EPA) approval.”

     At issue is the mild radioactivity of the material and potential cancer risks, which have long made its use in building roads controversial. It is typically stored in huge stacks, known as “gypstacks.” Other concerns are radon air pollution and groundwater pollution. The stacks are used to contain the material but also concentrate it. Its use as a road material dilutes its concentration, making the road much less dangerous than the stacks.

“At bottom, EPA approved a site-specific project presenting total risks that are at least an order of magnitude less than placement of phosphogypsum in a stack,” EPA attorneys wrote in a September brief.

     Of probable concern to the Center of Biological Diversity, which sued the EPA after it approved the project, is that the EPA approval of the pilot project will lead to a more general acceptance of using the material for more roads.

     Since the dangers of radioactivity are based on concentration and time of exposure, many scientists believe the concerns from lower doses that are more occasional are significantly overblown. Of course, exposure pathways need to be considered, and monitoring should absolutely be robust, as the EPA approval stipulates.

  

References:

Tampa’s Mosaic says legal challenge to phosphate road plan now 'moot'. Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida. Tampa Bay Times. December 8, 2025. Tampa’s Mosaic says legal challenge to phosphate road plan now 'moot'