Reservoir with radioactive wastewater from fertilizer production in Florida about to collapse
Did you know there was radioactive waste from processing phosphate ore into phobic acid which is used in fertilizer? There are more than a billion tons stored in “stacks” at 25 facilities in Florida. Now a reservoir that stores this material in Manatee County Florida, near Sarasota, is in danger of collapse and nearby homes are being evacuated.
According to The Center for Biological Diversity “Radium-226, found in phosphogypsum, has a 1,600-year radioactive decay half-life. In addition to high concentrations of radioactive materials, phosphogypsum and processed wastewater can also contain carcinogens and heavy toxic metals like antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, sulfur, thallium and zinc.
For every ton of phosphoric acid produced, the fertilizer industry creates 5 tons of radioactive phosphogypsum waste.”
In 2020 groups sued the EPA for approving the use of this radioactive waste in road construction.
This is another really good reason not to use synthetic fertilizer on your yard and garden!