Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Fertilizer maker finds a way to grow itself

Mosaic wants to expand and county commissioners are expected to agree, which worries water authorities.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published March 31, 2006

The Mosaic Co., the largest phosphate company in the world, wants to expand its Hopewell mine onto at least 600 acres south of Plant City.

But the region's water supplier maintains that the expansion could pollute part of the county's drinking water supply. Worse, officials at Tampa Bay Water said, if county commissioners let Mosaic expand, they'll be declawing their own water-protection ordinance.

Jon Kennedy, Tampa Bay Water's chief engineer, said Mosaic "doesn't want to be treated the same as everybody else under the ordinance. They want treatment that's different."

Mosaic spokeswoman Christine Smith said that the ordinance simply doesn't apply to the phosphate company.

"We didn't feel we fell under it, because we've been mining for years," she said.

The issue dates to last spring, when Mosaic filed an application to expand the Hopewell mine, which has been in operation since 1982, Smith said.

The county denied the application, citing the 2004 water protection ordinance.

In January, Smith said, Mosaic filed a lawsuit against the county asking a judge to declare that the ordinance did not apply to Mosaic.

"This was a new regulation," she said. "We just figured we could continue to mine. We didn't think that mining came under that ordinance or should come under that."

Before the suit went before a judge, it was settled out of court, Smith said. On April 11, the County Commission is expected to approve the final terms of an agreement with Mosaic that will allow the company to continue its application process.

The eight-page agreement would require Mosaic to provide "reasonable assurance" that it can keep its mining operation from contaminating nearby surface water.

That's not good enough, said Paula Dye, Tampa Bay Water's chief environmental planner.

The proposed agreement violates the county's own water protection ordinance, she said.

"Mining is one of the things prohibited in this location," she said. "We feel the proposed settlement agreement could put the public's drinking water at risk."

More important, Kennedy said, the agreement would make the water protection ordinance meaningless.

"If the protection ordinance can't hold here, what else is it not going to hold against?" he asked.

Tampa Bay Water has no say over whether the agreement is approved or whether Mosaic's expansion gets the green light. Kennedy said the water utility met with Mosaic and representatives of the county to discuss the matter earlier this week, without reaching any accord.

Smith said that Mosaic would stand firm on its right to mine the land.

"The most important thing is we need to have fertilizer," she said. "In order to have food, we need to continue to mine."

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 30, 2006, 14:06:17]