Naples, Fla. -Three Florida counties – Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota – have agreed to put up $500,000 each to attempt to get the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to perform a regional environmental impact study on the effects of phosphate mining in the Peace River and Myakka River watersheds. Those counties were also attempting to get two other counties, Manatee and DeSoto, to pledge an equal amount, but DeSoto has said no and Manatee was asking why it was necessary, according to Mosaic spokesman David Townsend. The three counties will also ask the Florida Legislature to help fund the study. The last regional impact study was conducted in 1978, which was around the time the state began requiring phosphate companies to do remediation of mined phosphate lands. Townsend said the industry has significantly changed its methods of mining during that 28 year period. Townsend added that the company does not object to an area-wide environmental impact study, but said it should include all environmental impacts, such as development and agriculture, and not just phosphate mining. The southwestern area of Florida is one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and development in recent years has been extensive. He also said the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Southwest Florida Water Management District were already in the process of conducting a similar study, and the company was in the process of doing the same. Phosphate companies own about 95,000 acres in the area, which has not yet been permitted for mining. Currently, the Corps conducts studies on individual mining permit applications, but not on the entire area. The counties have already spent approximately $12 million fighting mining permits in the region, but Charlotte has spent the most by far.
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