Mosaic Gets to Expand Four Corners Phosphate Mine

BRADENTON – Mosaic's "Four Corners" network of mines consists of 11,908 acres, and almost 10,000 of them are currently in the active mining process category. At Thursday's BOCC Land Use meeting, commissioners voted to add Mosaic's newest addition to its Master Mining Plan. It is called G&D Farms Tract, a 272-acre parcel that used to be an organic strawberry farm.

The Four Corners Mine is at the crossroads where Hillsborough, Manatee, Hardee and Polk County meet; ground zero for phosphate mining. The G&D Farms Tract is at the corner of SR 39 and SR 62, 14 miles east of Parrish.

The requested action to allow an Operating Permit pertains to the continuation of mining activities at the Four Corners Mine, which have been ongoing for over 30 years. At Thursday's meeting, the BOCC voted unanimously to allow Mosaic Mining to start that process with the addition of G&D Farms Tract in accordance with the approved Master Mining and Reclamation Plan and Ordinance No. 04-39.

There are currently two drag-lines a mile west of the G&D Farms Tract at Mosaic's Lambe Tract which is at the head waters of the Little Manatee River.

At Thursday's meeting, Commissioner Robin DiSabatino asked a battery of questions about the amount of water that will be used at the G&D Farms Tract. Bart Arrington, Mining Permit Manager for Mosaic, said there wouldn't be any additional water permit requested.

Mosaic is currently permitted to use 70 million gallons a day to run their operations, but claim most of it is reused. But the groundwater that they pump to assist the retrieval of phosphate rock is only used again to carry a slurry to the processing plant, classifying it as reuse not recycle, so Mosaic is still taking 70 million gallons a day from the aquifer; nearly twice the amount Manatee County uses each day.

Mosaic is permitted through 2034 to mine in Manatee County. Arrington says they are working on methods to reduce their water use.

In October, the Mosaic Co. ended 12 years of legal wrestling over the way the phosphate company handles their waste and water, leading to a $2 billion settlement with the U.S. Government. The two Manatee County mines (Four Corners and Wingate) were not subject to the Justice Department settlement, but they have not matured nor escaped future scrutiny.

The gypsum stacks and clay settling areas that are left in the wake on phosphate mining are considered the worst assemblage of waste in the country and are in Bartow and Riverview. The settlement insisted Mosaic changes its ways, but nothing was mentioned at Thursday's meeting to suggest that would happen.

Item #6 on Thursday's agenda was to increase Mosaic's reclamation bond from $20,979,561.00 to $24,130,783.00, an increase of slightly over $3 million. That is hardly a drop in the bucket should any of the disasters prone to phosphate mining occur.

Piney Pointe is a good example. Currently the county has more than $140 million spent tending to its mishaps, and $24 million more couldn't fix it today.

Thursday, Commissioner DiSabatino said, "They have us over a barrel." The motion was approved unanimously.