Introducing America's newest radioactive waste disposal site: your local highway.
At least that seems to be the thinking behind the Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to approve a “pilot” program to use phosphogypsum in road construction in Florida.
Phosphogypsum contains radium, which decays to form radon gas, which is also radioactive and carcinogenic. It is tasteless, odorless, and deadly. Home buyers typically request radon testing prior to purchase.
Now, this particular test road happens to be on private land, land owned by the company Mosaic Fertilizer LLC. Coincidentally, phosphogypsum is a radioactive waste product produced when making fertilizer. Naturally, a company like Mosaic has a lot of that. Hey, I have to go somewhere!
What better place to be than right under the highways and side streets that crisscross our communities?
Something smells
Mosaic Fertilizer asked the EPA to allow it to construct three 200-foot sections of road using a phosphogypsum mixture to “demonstrate the scope of the road construction design.”
Typically, phosphogypsum is stored in fortified “stacks” in remote locations. But the EPA says it's equally safe for use in road construction.
At one time, everyone thought radium was safe. It was used to make the hands of a clock glow in the dark. However, it turns out that radium attacks bones and teeth, causing devastating injuries and even deadly cancer. It has been banned since 1968.
Phosphogypsum contains radium, which decays to form radon gas, which is also radioactive and carcinogenic. It is tasteless, odorless, and deadly. Home buyers typically request radon testing prior to purchase.
In its preliminary approval, the EPA said the potential radiation risk to public health from constructing the small pilot project is no greater than the risk from keeping phosphogypsum in chimneys.
U turn
But in 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency declared that phosphogypsum in road construction is always considered unsafe and poses a risk to both construction workers and those who later build homes where roads once stood. did.
Radium from this proposed road could leak into local water supplies. Exposure to this can cause harmful health effects such as radiation sickness, anemia, and cancer. Safety protocols are extremely important when working with radium or radium-containing materials.
So what has changed?
The EPA has been very cautious in its statements about this new method of treating toxic waste, stressing that approval of Mosaic Road “does not constitute approval of any other or future requests.” The agency added: “A complete review process, including risk assessment, must be undertaken for each request for any other use of phosphogypsum, and approval will be granted on a case-by-case basis.”
“Unacceptable risk”
Somehow, the idea that government red tape stands between us and potential radiation poisoning is not very comforting.
Ragan Whitlock, an attorney with the Florida-based Center for Biological Diversity, said: “Shame on the EPA for ignoring its own science showing the unacceptable risks that the use of phosphogypsum in road construction poses to human health and the environment.'' ” he said.
If this proposal doesn't stop here, your city could be next. It's time to speak up and stop this madness!
