Manatee County, Fla.-After the Manatee County, Fla., County Commission reversed itself and approved a mining permit for the Mosaic Co. to avoid a lawsuit from the company, citizens and environmentalists filed suits against both the county and the company last week, according to local news reports. Mosaic had filed a $600 million-plus taking suit against the county for its initial rejection. However, opponents, which included the Sierra Club, ManaSota-88, and three nearby residents of the 2,000-plus acre Altman Tract, charged the county violated its own procedures because a vote can be reconsidered only if sought by one of those who initially voted in the majority within 30 days of the original vote. They also alleged the company and county had used “illegal contract zoning” by offering to build a fire station and other considerations for approval. The tract will be added to Mosaic’s Four Corners Mine, but mining cannot begin until it receives final approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.
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