Bradenton — The Manatee County Commission voted to approve a 646-acre expansion of Mosaic’s Wingate Creek Mine by a close 4-3 vote on June 19, according to local news reports. The project will destroy 49 acres of wetlands, and a motion to have the company post a bond of $103,000 pending reclamation of the wetlands failed by the same margin, 4-3. Environmental groups had opposed the plan, but the county commission’s staff had recommended approval. During the long approval process, the company agreed to change from a dragline operation to dredge. Mosaic had warned the county in a previous case that if it did not receive approval of the operating permit, it would file suit. Initial work on the site will begin in January 2013, with actual mining starting a few months later.
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