Florida Roads Could Include Radioactive Waste Material If GOP-Backed Bill Becomes Law

The toxic phosphate waste contains radium-226, which decays to form radon, a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. Conservation groups are urging Gov. DeSantis to veto the bill.

Roads in Florida could soon be paved with cancer-causing radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry if Gov. Ron DeSantis fails to veto a bill that the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature approved by a wide margin.

The bill allows the use of toxic phosphogypsum in “demonstration” road projects across the state in order to test if it’s usable for paving projects. If approved, phosphogypsum would join pavement materials such as crushed stone, gravel and sand. 

Phosphogypsum contains radium-226, which decays to form radon, a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bans the toxic phosphate waste in roadway construction, claiming that it “poses an unacceptable risk to road construction workers, public health and the environment.”

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Environmental and conservation groups have criticized the bill and urged DeSantis to veto it.

“Using radioactive phosphogypsum in roads is not a solution to the fertilizer industry’s toxic waste problem,” the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 20 other groups said in a letter to the governor. “Florida should not be a test subject in the industry’s reckless experiment.”

The bill requires the Florida Department of Transportation (FDT) to complete a study on the feasibility of using phosphogypsum as a material for road construction by April 1, 2024. This gives the agency less than a year to complete its work and make a recommendation. 

DeSantis could sign the bill at any time. However, if he takes no action, the bill will be enacted automatically.