phosphate

The federal Environmental Protection Agency Friday approved a test project using a toxic byproduct of phosphate mining for road beds.

Several environmental groups say they plan to sue the federal government for failing to regulate waste produced by phosphate mining. The move comes after they had asked the feds to toughen industry standards.

Critics warn against industry-driven environmental research agendas in Florida.

How vulnerable are the southeast’s phosphate plants, mines and mountains of waste to stronger rains and hurricanes?

Abundant phosphate reserves made the Sunshine State a key player in the global fertilizer industry — leading to both riches and sacrifices.

The digging of a deep well at the troubled Piney Point phosphate plant in Manatee County has been completed. Now, workers are injecting 1 million gallons of polluted water deep underground, every day.

The mining industry has been searching for ways to reduce the size of gypstacks, such as the one at Piney Point that leaked into Tampa Bay in 2021.

A year ago, 215 million gallons of wastewater poured from the troubled Piney Point phosphate plant into Tampa Bay’s waters — a long-feared disaster come true.

In the first segment of our ongoing series on phosphate mines, WUSF reports on the long, tangled history of Florida's phosphate mines and the environment. Thursday, we take a look at the one company that's still mining phosphate in Central Florida.

Piney Point's owner is among the targets of the lawsuit, which seeks a full cleanup and closure of the former phosphate plant.

Officials say the wastewater being released into Tampa Bay is not radioactive but it does contain a lot of nutrients that can fuel algal blooms. Scientists say it will take time to see if damage occurs.

The National Guard dropped off pumps in an attempt to drain the reservoir before the hole in the earthen dam becomes larger.