| 08 October 2008
Decision viewed as a win in the War for Wetland Protection
What's at Stake: Few pristine areas remain in the watershed feeding the Peace River. Wetland restoration doesn't hold a candle to the real thing
Excerpt from St. Petersburg Times/Craig Pittman:
Federal officials have backed off their decision to allow the world's largest phosphate mining company to tear up 480 acres of wetlands south of the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Manatee County.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency in charge of protecting wetlands, had issued a permit five months ago allowing Mosaic to dig up the wetlands even though they feed into one of the region's primary water supplies.
State officials approved the mining too, because Mosaic promised to restore the wetlands when it's done mining.
Complete Article by Craig Pittman , St. Petersburg Times Staff writer, Tampabay.comMore about phosphate mining in Florida
Central Florida is the heart of the US phosphate industry. The EPA estimates that the current stockpile of waste in Central Florida's gypsum stacks has reached "nearly 1 billion metric tons." The average gypsum stack takes up about 135 acres of surface area - equal to about 100 football fields.
But the Manatee County Commission voted 4-3 last month to reject Mosaic's mining of the 2,048-acre Altman tract because of the impact on the Peace River — a decision that led Mosaic to file a $600-million lawsuit against the county last week.
Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups sued the corps, challenging the permit. On Monday, a Department of Justice official notified the environmental groups that the corps had suspended the permit, halting any mining while it reconsiders the situation.
"The corps has determined that it is in the public interest to revisit the analysis in support of the permit decision," Col. Paul Grosskruger wrote to Mosaic officials in a letter dated Friday.
