Over 20,000 public comments submitted on proposal for radioactive roads

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering allowing a pilot project in Mulberry, FL to test the use of radioactive hazardous waste in road construction. Fertilizer companies in the state are sitting on hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic phosphogypsum, the waste left over when phosphate rock is turned into fertilizer. It contains radium 226 – a radioactive material which forms radon gas when it decays. The gas can cause cancer and phosphogypsum has been banned by the EPA for use in anything that could create a risk to public health. Regulations in the Clean Air Act require that it be sealed away in engineered stacks to limit public exposure to the radon emissions. It also contains environmentally dangerous heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury. The EPA just wrapped up a public comment period on the proposal. Environment Florida submitted over 20,000 comments collected by our national network, Environment America, PIRG and Environmental Action.

Using radioactive material in public infrastructure could risk contaminating nearby waterways, or getting stirred up into the air, potentially exposing thousands of people to these dangerous substances. By the EPA’s own findings outside uses of this toxic waste should be at least as protective of public health as placement in a sealed stack. Roads are highly public areas, with exposure to people in and outside of vehicles. They are also used daily resulting in a high rate of decay. Using phosphogypsum in projects that expose it to people is not an acceptable use for this cancer causing material.