Florida Lawmakers Want to Pave Roads With Radioactive Material

Florida Lawmakers Want to Pave Roads , With Radioactive Material.

Lawmakers in Florida want Gov.

Ron DeSantis to sign a bill allowing roads in the state to include phosphogypsum.

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Phosphogypsum is a radioactive waste material produced by the fertilizer industry.

HB 1191 would direct the Florida Transportation Department to conduct , "demonstration projects using phosphogypsum in road construction aggregate material to determine its feasibility as a paving material.".

If approved, the waste material would become a pavement aggregate, just as stone, gravel and sand are used.

The EPA reports that "phosphogypsum contains appreciable quantities of uranium and its decay products, such as radium-226.".

It "is more radioactive than the original phosphate rock" that is used to produce phosphoric acid for fertilizer, according to the agency.

Florida alone accounts for approximately 80 percent of the current capacity, making it the world's largest phosphate producing area, Via EPA.gov.

Critics, who say phosphogypsum would contaminate the water and increase road crews' cancer risks, are urging DeSantis to veto HB 1191.

Critics, who say phosphogypsum would contaminate the water and increase road crews' cancer risks, are urging DeSantis to veto HB 1191.

Using radioactive phosphogypsum in roads is not a solution to the fertilizer industry's toxic waste problem.

, The Center for Biological Diversity and more than 30 other groups, via a letter to Ron DeSantis .

Florida should not be a test subject in the industry's reckless experiment, The Center for Biological Diversity and more than 30 other groups, via a letter to Ron DeSantis