A Futile Attempt to Disguise Hazardous Waste

Phosphate industry representatives have increased their efforts to convince people that phosphogypsum may soon become an important asset in the form of mining Rare Earth Elements from phosphogypsum (gyp) stacks.

Phosphogypsum is a major hazardous byproduct of fertilizer production. Phosphogypsum has no economic value because of its impure content and is dumped on the ground in large piles. The Piney Point gyp stacks located in Manatee County are just one example of the toxic legacy the phosphate industry is leaving behind in Florida.

The results of a recent feasibility study indicate that the extraction process is not economically feasible due to the low concentration of Rare Earth Elements in phosphate wastes and significant government financial support would be needed.

The extraction of Rare Earth Elements from phosphogypsum appears to be another attempt by the phosphate industry to have taxpayers subsidize the costs of their radioactive waste disposal.

The study did not determine the potential health impacts resulting from the effects of the particles from a gyp stack being resuspended again with the increased health risks this imposes.

Redistributing the radionuclides associated with phosphogypsum will not reduce the health problems associated with the product. It will merely make the cause of the ensuing adverse health effects, such as cancer, more difficult to identify.

Exposure to particulates and other pulmonary irritants can result in obstructive pulmonary changes, decreased elasticity, and chronic scarring of the lungs. This can result in reduced diffusing capacity, the ability to transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and blood.

Definitive studies of phosphate work-related hazards need to be done.

We already know there are serious health risks associated with phosphogypsum. While EPA rules governing the use of phosphogypsum are weak, changes in the gyp stack associated with the extraction of Rare Earth Elements can lead to much greater health risks than those caused by radon-222 emissions during the time the gyp stack is active.

Because the threat of radiation is real, it makes no sense to increase present health risks by relaxing any standards which govern the distribution and use of phosphogypsum for research and development. Additional relaxation moves even closer to the removal of all regulations governing phosphogypsum use and towards its widespread use for road building, school construction, widespread dumping for fill, and unlimited use in agriculture.

Increasing the limitation of phosphogypsum used in a laboratory setting for research and development will increase individual cancers for laboratory personnel, support personnel, etc., and there will be multiple exposures to workers during the extraction of Rare Earth Elements.

To date, there have been no published scientific studies confirming that there is an economically feasible or environmentally "safe" way to extract Rare Earth Elements from phosphate wastes. All uses of phosphogypsum can cause significant health risks.

The industry should be required to use a phosphoric acid process that creates no phosphogypsum or other hazardous byproducts.

In addition to high radium 226 levels, central Florida phosphogypsum also contains significant amounts of sulfur and various heavy metals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, and lead.

Phosphogypsum that exceeds 10 picocuries per gram (pCi/g) of radioactivity has been banned from all uses by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1992. This decision reflected the EPA’s concern that the radium-bearing waste, if spread throughout the country, would present a public health threat that would continue for generations, given radium's 1,630-year radioactive decay half-life.

There is no rational reason why taxpayers should fund research that should be paid for by profits from the phosphate companies. The phosphate industry should not be permitted to externalize the costs of their phosphogypsum waste disposal problem at the public's expense. The cost is too high.

Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.