Great letter, Terry.

Wiley

Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 25, 2022, at 2:08 PM, Terry Brant <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Dr. Terry and Mrs. Diane Brant
> 1358 SE 5th Avenue
> Melrose, Florida 32666-5406
> 
> June 25, 2022
> 
> Hon. Danny Riddick
> Bradford County Commission /all Commissioners
> 
> Re: HPS II Phosphate Mine
>        
>                       LETTER OF OPPOSITION            
> History/Adverse Effects/Legal Basis for Denial of Permit
> 
> The permit applicant, HPS II, in addressing the public interest considerations, essentially says simply that its planned phosphate mine will be safe, will not cause any health, other problems, or environmental damage and will be of great economic benefit to Bradford County and the needs of its residents and society generally. 
> Clearly that is not the end of the story, however. If unconstrained mining were being approved by the legislature there would be no state or county permit application process at all; no public/quasi-judicial hearing, federal or state regulation.
> 
> Consistent with the above statement, the Bradford County Commission is tasked with determining if the permit request is proper, that the phosphate mining is in the public interest which includes a finding that the mining can and will be conducted in an environmentally responsible way and any purpose and need statement should identify the purpose as to conduct mining in an environmentally responsible way. 
> 
> Despite similar assurances in a recent case, the economic value of phosphate mining was misstated in an AEIS process. The opposing party retained an economist, Dr. Richard Weisskoff, to analyze and review the economic benefit of phosphate mining. 
> 
> Dr. Weisskoff’s analysis was provided to the Corps of Engineers and a copy was provided with these comments for consideration in the FDEP record as well.
> Dr. Weisskoff debunks the common claim that phosphate mining is an economic engine that drives the economies of the counties impacted and demonstrates that, in fact, agriculture and related businesses, so important in Bradford County, were the main sources of economic benefit to the region. Mining was not a major source. 
> The state severance tax income, especially when contrasted with the enormous public costs of regulating, monitoring and cleaning up after the phosphate industry proved that public economic benefits should not be overstated and public costs must be fully considered. 
> 
> In this particular case data available at the time demonstrated that the reclamation costs assumed by Mosaic were not enough to restore mined lands to full productivity. The groundwater flows are never restored, many wetlands (e.g. bay swamps) cannot be effectively restored, and the acres of clay settling areas are never restored to their past productivity. 
> 
> Mining should not ever be permitted until the true costs of reclamation are included and adequately bonded by the mining company. All of the above considerations have not been met by HPS II, and the permit should not be granted.
> 
> Gypstacks, part of this Mosaic case, are massive and qualify as hazardous wastes under the applicable regulatory programs. They are prone to serious mismanagement as revealed by the recent USEPA consent decree with Mosaic, which, aside from an $8 million fine, and hundreds of millions in trust fund to remedy gypstack violations and begin to cover closure costs. The consent decree also addressed operating procedures with unprecedented Federal oversight of gypstack operations after a finding that Mosaic had been improperly managing hazardous wastes in such systems. Mosaic had been doing it wrong for years. And the history of gypstack spills in Florida reveals an inadequately regulated and controlled system, with massive cleanup costs borne by the public and ongoing dead zone damage to the Gulf of Mexico where gypstack acid wastes were dumped to avoid further gypstack spills.
> 
> Mosaic and the regulatory agencies have sought to pretend that fertilizer plants and gypstacks are separate from mining. These issues werevaddressed in AEIS comments which demonstrate that mining and gypstacks are inextricably linked, not only as a matter of the use of the mined material,which is useless without fertilizer plant processing, but also as a matter of the economics of the industry. Significantly, the AEIS finds it impossible to make an argument in favor of mining without reference to the fertilizer product itself.  
> 
> As this case moved forward, there was an ongoing environmental tragedy at the Mosaic New Wales gypstack, where a sinkhole developed which was pouring hazardous wastes from the top of the gypstack into the Floridan aquifer.
> 
> New River, Santa Fe, irrigation systems, domestic wells and watershed impacts are often substantial and have not  been adequately addressed. Beyond the lack of clarity as to any factual basis of safety, lack of harm, or “public interest”  it also appears that significant offsite impacts, including reclamation, clay settling, and other impacts have been identified and articulated previously (2019) by Dr. Berkelman and myself, with research data and case examples, which either have been insufficiently or not at all considered.
> 
> Furthermore, the already degraded state of the aquifer, lower flows and levels, and other waters, including affected species, including federally protected, has not been taken into consideration. The permitting of this phosphate mine is not a temporary event, but rather additional and continuing damage.
> 
> Actual examples of Florida counties with phosphate mine damage are not theoretical. Simply saying mining is safe, that no harm will occur, is unpersuasive and  totally inadequate. 
> 
> Two large companies, Mosaic Fertilizer and CF Industry Holdings, operate most of the open pit phosphate mines in Hardee and Polk Counties. At the mines, cranes dig a mixture of phosphate, sand and clay that is generally below 15 to 30 feet of topsoil and sand. The material is dumped into a nearby pit and blasted with high pressure water to create a slurry that is pumped through pipes to a plant for final separation of the phosphate. The leftover clay-water mixture is dumped into other pits that become ponds. Today, the ponds dot the landscape. 
> 
> The mines pump on average more than 100,000 gallons of water a minute, according to the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research, an industry-financed organization. The Environmental Protection Department regulates  mines, but counties say that state officials have granted too many mine permits and that many permits do not meet federal standards.
> 
> Mining companies have been allowed to destroy streams and wetlands, according to the counties, and areas they have reclaimed remain damaged and scarred.
> 
> “We found through consultants that none of the permits complied with the environmental regulations on the books,” the natural resources planner for Charlotte County, Bill Boyle said. “We thought all these agencies were protecting us". 
> 
> The Bradford Commission should carefully make the determination without relying on future promises or the actions of other agencies to protect the people, water or health of Bradford County.
> A study by the Environmental Protection Department found that the forestland in the Peace River Basin had declined, to 17 percent from 60 percent in 1940. Wetlands declined to 16 percent from 25 percent.
> 
> The three counties mentioned and the water authority are so sure the phosphate mining is not  in the public interest they spent $12 million and days in court in an effort to block the opening by Mosaic of a mine near Ona, to impose stricter environmental practices at other sites and to track those seeking permits.
> 
> Based on our previous letter of April 30, 2019, this document, the previous Addendum and the fact that facts have not substantially or materially changed, we ask that you place this on the record, transmit copies to all Commissioners, and consider this competent, substantial testimony.
> 
> Based upon the foregoing, we respectfully request that you deny the HPS II Phosphate Mine Permit.
> 
> Terry and Diane Brant
> 
> Bradford County Residents 
> Lake Santa Fe Property Owners
> 
> Electronically signed
> 

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