I'm not so worried about the finished product. My worry is the people who are hired to a) contain the material, b) transport the material, c) release the material to the property where the work will be done and d) directly work with the material to create the roadway once it's been dropped off at its location.

This is going to be insanely costly, and if employees are informed of the risks, it's possible they might not be willing to do the work. If that happens, it's possible that they won't be informed of the risks, and then we'll have multi-million/billion-dollar class action suits on our hands if any of them end up with cancer as a result of direct contact with the dust or fumes while doing the work.

Not to mention - who's going to be wearing full hazmat gear for several hours per day in the grueling hot Florida sun to do this work? It's not something you can just wear gloves for.

And people like this man.

As I understand it, the concern is less about the material when used as a roadway and more about what happens after the road is abandoned. When the road is abandoned that material becomes a soil contaminant that could potentially wind up in someone's back yard or foundation.

It's a long-term consideration which may or may not result in actual harm. The concern today is that this consideration is being ignored by using harmless-sounding words like feasibility study and demonstration project.

Really , did Americans want to go to war in IRAQ or Afghanistan , Vietnam? Did Americans want the national debt to increase to 55 trillion by 2035 ?
Did Americans want social security payments to be taken out of the fund by our government?

Why, yes. Yes we do. An overwhelming number of Floridians voted for him.

That material went by the name of "Easy-base", IIRC - at least on instance of the material. It was intended to be the base material for roads and then covered with asphalt. I am familiar with one use of the material to construct golf cart paths (not covered with anything). This didn't work out well and the golf cart paths had to be removed. I am not aware of the current status of this material.

Good point. Let's check with the EPA:

On June 30, 2021, the EPA withdrew previously granted conditional approval to use phosphogypsum in government road construction projects.

It looks like the answer, at least as of two years ago, is no, they don't allow this dangerous material to be used.

Not sure how the State of Florida intends to get around this but <insert political comment here>

Always good to look into the actual bill and understand what is going on. Coming from a severely one-sided media outlet such as the article attached doesn't do anybody any good. Those outlets seem to really dislike how popular the Governor is and what a great job he is doing and will look to do anything to change that. Such a shame how things are reported.

If we the people would.only take the time and effort to understand the facts! No, it’s much easier to let the politically biased media tell us what to think. Blame everything on big business and take the simple excuse: “follow the money “. Do you really think our legislators are all capable of analyzing and learning about every issue on their own? Lobbyists provide information and facts. It is up to our representatives to determine and try to understand the issues. Most of the time they do a reasonably good job. Please don’t let politics and election hysteria fool you.

If you really care enough, take the time to do your own research. Otherwise use common sense and not hysteria and ignorance to form your opinions!

Seriously is this true or Fake news?

It’s concerning for sure

Not sure what you are referencing…was it “governor doing a good job”?🙂

Don't you think everything you mentioned will be considered in the feasibility study, especially with the EPA monitoring it.

How many roads have been abandoned in this country? It is way too expensive to abandon an existing roadway to build a new one.

Radon is All Around Us!
 

The Buck Ends in Florida!
 

QUOTE=Pballer;2230825]DeSantis signs bill allowing new roads to be built with mining waste linked to cancer | The Hill

What will they think of next?[/QUOTE]

"The road to hell was paved with good intentions."

I'm pretty confident that our governor doesn't really care what the EPA says or thinks about anything at all, and he'll FIND a way to get around any federal laws. He won't let the fed, or the taxpayers, stop him from doing whatever he wants.

What a load of BS.

And it’s intolerant political BS!

They are only doing a one year study on the feasibility of using phosphogypsum. After that they will still need approval from the EPA. Relax people!

No Bogie Shooter, you’re exactly what I’m trying to figure out. If this is the solution why haven’t they been doing this yrs. ago if the could use radioactive waste. There must be a reason, not saying they can’t but I’m just thinking because most of us think radioactive material is dangerous, that’s why I was wondering is this a Fake comment & is this for real!

Sensible people take the fun out of everything! You don't need to read the article to make fun of the headline. Sheesh! Get a funny bone.

That explains the extra ear on my forehead.

So we will now have Radon Roads in addition to having phosphogypsum in our aquifers?

"EPA has determined that phosphogypsum poses a cancer risk from its radon emissions. Major sinkholes in phosphogypsum stacks have released millions of gallons of process wastewater and an undetermined amount of phosphogypsum into the Floridan aquifer. EPA has declared a Mississippi fertilizer plant and phosphogypsum stack system a Superfund site, and a phos- phogypsum stack in Louisiana has been moving laterally since January 2019, putting surround- ing communities and farms at risk"

From: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...-factsheet.pdf

They're wasting taxpayer money on a study on the feasibility of something the EPA has already said "please don't do that."

Phosphogypsum was approved for road use by the EPA in October 2020 in the previous administration. That approval was rescinded in 2021.

Request to Use Phosphogypsum in Government Road Projects: Supporting Documents | US EPA

Right. Thanks for posting the link. It supports my previous post - that our state's leader wastes money on a feasibility study for something that the EPA has already said - don't do that.

No idea how this thread survives with all the political BS

Because it's not political. This fact would still be factual, if the state's leader was someone else or was a member of any other political party. It would be factual if it happened in another state. When the EPA says "you can't do this thing" it means - there's no need or reason to spend a single dime of taxpayer money on a study to determine whether or not this thing is feasible. It is already determined to be NOT feasible, by the EPA.

If it was a Democrat governor my opinion would be exactly the same. Don't waste taxpayer dollars on a feasibility study for something the EPA has already said you can't do.

You do know that the current administration unilaterally rescinded many things approved by the previous administration just as a matter of course? Nothing to do with it being proven good or bad, just politics. Id like to see a study.

So now we have a response to a Florida Bill the governor signed in response to a question about how to use a material deemed to be hazardous , that sits in piles in many places in Florida. Think about that. It already exists and continues to grow.

Why did this forum post start? Because the OP started with a news article that was deliberately misstating the intent of Florida bill HB 1191. "DeSantis signs bill allowing new roads to be built with mining waste linked to cancer BY OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN - 06/29/23 9:43 PM ET."

That was not the intention of the Bill HB1191 at all as mentioned in previous posts. IT IS A STUDY.

And now we get a comment about how the governor will abuse any federal law. What would one say if we made the same statement about a President regarding some of His/Her attempts to do whatever they want?

We all have opinions, but we have been advised to use care and facts.

Looks like it is just a study so you will not soon be stuck driving a Radon Road. Any use would need to be EPA approved. 'Radioactive' roads: DeSantis signs law to test phosphogypsum

So, IF I posted that only an idiot would push to forgive $3 trillion in student loans that were legally contracted that's not political either????