Wall Street Journal Takes a Close Look at Florida Phosphate Mining Fight
The Wall Street Journal:
Miners Dig In for a Fight
Environmentalists Say Phosphate Mining Threatens Florida Wetlands, Farmland
WAUCHULA, FL — The phosphate mined for more than a century here in central Florida to make fertilizer has yielded thousands of jobs and countless harvests around the world.
But environmental groups are arguing in federal court that the cornucopia extracts too high a price in lost wetlands, spoiled water supplies and ruined farmland.
The Sierra Club and local environmentalists have slammed the brakes on an 11,000-acre mine extension planned by industry giant Mosaic Co. after securing a court injunction in July — the first such ruling in a state that supplies approximately 70% of U.S. phosphate rock for fertilizer. Mosaic is appealing the ruling.