Current Events > Florida GOP wants to make roads out of banned, radioactive materials.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174789570/florida-roads-radioactive-paving-phosphogypsum

Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Conservation groups are urging DeSantis to veto the bill, saying phosphogypsum would hurt water quality and put road construction crews at a higher risk of cancer.
The Environmental Protection Agency also has a say in the matter: The agency regulates phosphogypsum, and any plan to use it in roads would require a review, the EPA told NPR.
Here's what to know about the law and about phosphogypsum.
What would the law do, specifically?
HB 1191 would compel the Florida Transportation Department to study using phosphogypsum in paving projects, calling for "demonstration projects using phosphogypsum in road construction aggregate material to determine its feasibility as a paving material."
If it's approved, phosphogypsum would join pavement aggregates such as crushed stone, gravel and sand. In recent years, the Federal Highway Administration says, industrial byproducts and reclaimed materials have also been used as aggregates.
The bill sets a deadline of April 1, 2024, giving the transportation agency less than a year to complete its work and make a recommendation. The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature approved the measure by a wide margin.
What is phosphogypsum and why is there so much of it?
In fertilizer, phosphorus is important for plants to grow strong roots and for crops to be productive. Florida has been an important source since the 1800s; today, the EPA notes, "Florida alone accounts for approximately 80 percent of the current capacity, making it the world's largest phosphate producing area."
When phosphate rock is dissolved in sulfuric acid to make phosphoric acid for fertilizer and a few other uses, phosphogypsum is what's left over.
The commonly used production process, which dates to the 1840s, is not very efficient. For every ton of phosphoric acid produced, more than 5 tons of phosphogypsum waste is generated.
Florida's prominent role means the state also has massive waste sites called phosphogypsum stacks, or "gypstacks." Such stacks can be very large spanning up to 800 acres and about 200 feet in height. They've been linked to serious problems over the years, due to sinkholes and other breaches.
Is it dangerous?
"Phosphogypsum contains appreciable quantities of uranium and its decay products, such as radium-226," according to the EPA. And because the fertilizer production process concentrates waste material, "phosphogypsum is more radioactive than the original phosphate rock," the agency notes.
"The radium is of particular concern because it decays to form radon, a cancer-causing, radioactive gas," the EPA adds.
An analysis commissioned by the Fertilizer Institute, a group that represents the fertilizer industry, disagrees, saying that using phosphogypsum in road construction won't produce radioactive doses that are above the EPA's acceptable risks. Such work, it stated, "can be done safely and results in doses that are a small fraction of those arising from natural background radiation."
Last November, researchers in China who reviewed numerous existing studies on recycling phosphogypsum said they were optimistic about its potential use in road construction materials. But they concluded that more studies are needed, noting that "few studies have focused on its durability or analyzed its long-term effects on soil and water resources."
Critics of the new legislation are urging DeSantis to use his veto power.
"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 said in a letter to the governor. "Florida should not be a test subject in the industry's reckless experiment."
The groups say the fertilizer industry has already shown it can't adequately manage more than 1 billion tons of waste currently stored in Florida.
Is Florida's plan legal?
The EPA says "phosphogypsum remains prohibited from use in road construction," as it has been almost continuously for more than 30 years.
Under former President Donald Trump, the EPA briefly rescinded that policy starting in October 2020. But it reinstated the rule in June 2021.
The Florida legislation doesn't address the federal prohibition outright. Its supporting documents note that the EPA allows some uses for research purposes and it asserts that phosphogypsum is not technically a "solid waste."
When asked to comment on Florida's plan, the EPA told NPR,
"The legislation passed in Florida would not affect the requirement ... that U.S. EPA review proposed alternative uses of phosphogypsum on an individual, case-by-case basis."

The agency says the state would have to apply for approval and as with any other proposed project, the EPA would then open a public comment period, release its own technical analysis and seek input about the proposal.
What's next?
DeSantis could sign the phosphogypsum road-test measure into law at any time; it he takes no action, the bill will be enacted automatically.

I get they have an issue with the amount of phosphogypsum stacks being produced but this is the most Florida solution to the problem ever

This sounds like a plot to a Captain Planet episode. >_>

Since when has cancer killed anyone?

Florida's already a toxic cesspool so why not.

Alligators that sun themselves on the roads will now find themselves mutated to the size of trucks, hungry for human blood!

I feel sorry for the turtles and other seas life in FL.

This is why it would ve better for the galaxy as a whole for our space program to fail for the foreseeable future. Any planet with life that we find on it is just going to become as exploited and then destroyed as this one.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/3/2/AAA_aCAAEdlE.jpg

I wonder who is getting those juicy kickbacks

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/3/3/AAAURGAAEdlF.jpg

China: Nah, we ain't there yet. We should be careful and do more testing. Maybe it'll work, but I'm not just gonna poison everyone without figuring that out.
Florida: Yeehaw!!!!

How the fuck is China the voice of reason on this?

That state is literally captured by business. They're straight up getting wishlist items now like having the state pay them for their hard to dispose of waste.

Thompson posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/3/3/AAAURGAAEdlF.jpg

The ghouls and other mutants will be replaced with just Florida Men and meth heads

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/2/AAUQbgAAEdlY.jpg

voldothegr8 posted...

I wonder who is getting those juicy kickbacks

DeathSantis most likely. Calling them "campaign contributions".

Jiek_Fafn posted...

China: Nah, we ain't there yet. We should be careful and do more testing. Maybe it'll work, but I'm not just gonna poison everyone without figuring that out.
Florida: Yeehaw!!!!

How the fuck is China the voice of reason on this?

They either cant do it without getting caught so use the opportunity to play the good guy; or they're confident they won't get caught and are already doing it too. My money's on one of those explanations.

Gop the most evil group ever created they just want to destroy america

I dont see how theyll even get construction companies to ever build the roads. That would be fatal also.

Unless prison labor.

Florida doing Florida things.

Avast ye, ye scurvy dogs! What kind of blasted bilge rats be runnin' the show in Florida? Blast me eyes, ye must be addled in the noggin' to even consider layin' down roads with radioactive waste! 'Tis not just a danger to the landlubbers who be workin' on the roads, but a cursed danger to all the creatures of the sea and the sky above. The very thought of it be enough to make me blood boil! The ocean be chock full o' trash and filth already, we don't need more added to it. This here be a brazen and foolhardy experiment that be puttin' the lives of all Floridians in danger! The governor best be using his veto power or he'll be walkin' the plank for his negligence. We pirates may live by our own code, but we know better than to mess with the environment. Keep the seas clean, ye landlubbers!

Pirate_of_FAQs posted...

Avast ye, ye scurvy dogs! What kind of blasted bilge rats be runnin' the show in Florida? Blast me eyes, ye must be addled in the noggin' to even consider layin' down roads with radioactive waste! 'Tis not just a danger to the landlubbers who be workin' on the roads, but a cursed danger to all the creatures of the sea and the sky above. The very thought of it be enough to make me blood boil! The ocean be chock full o' trash and filth already, we don't need more added to it. This here be a brazen and foolhardy experiment that be puttin' the lives of all Floridians in danger! The governor best be using his veto power or he'll be walkin' the plank for his negligence. We pirates may live by our own code, but we know better than to mess with the environment. Keep the seas clean, ye landlubbers!

Nice one, Florida. You've pissed off the pirate!

Jagr_68 posted...

The ghouls and other mutants will be replaced with just Florida Men and meth heads

I dunno, "Feral Florida Man" is a bit redundant

Radioactive roads is a weird way to deal with homeless.