Bartow, Fla.-The Mosaic Co. has asked for and received additional time from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to review a proposed permit for a water reservoir planned in DeSoto County. The six-billion-gallon reservoir would be located adjacent to a water treatment plant owned by the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, which supplies drinking water to residents in Southwest Florida. Mosaic spokesman David Townsend said the company received notice of the proposed approval of the permit on Jan. 25, and was required to respond by Feb. 2, “which was simply not enough time to review” the several hundred pages of the permit. Townsend said the summary of the proposed permit “lacked specificity on wetlands mitigation and enhancement,” and the company needed the additional time to conduct the review. At the same time, the company said that if the request for additional time for the review was not granted, the company said it would seek a hearing before the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings. The company was given until Feb. 26 to review the proposed permit and seek the hearing, if it so chooses. Townsend said no decision had been made late last week. However, an editorial in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune chastised the company for the move and charged that it was seeking revenge for objections and hearings forced by counties in the region for the mining permits the company has sought in the past. Townsend said the newspaper had “misrepresented the facts,” and noted that Mosaic was simply attempting to determine whether environmental damage would result in the region, where it owns approximately 24,000 acres.
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