Howzit Weskus! Welcome to the NEW West Coast . . . are you READY ?
THIS is what an open phosphate mine leaves in its wake . . . don’t be fooled by smooth talking politicians and mining companies – these are the proven FACTS and the only people who get rich are the mine bosses and the local doctors – the others spend their hard earned salaries on medical bills and anti-depressants for killing the very source of life, health, wealth and beauty . . . Please READ, WAKE UP and SHARE?
The Issues and Impacts of Phosphate Strip Mining
It’s easy to see what phosphate mining can do to an ecosystem. Strip mining removes 20 to 40 feet of the surface of an area to get to the phosphate. In the process, the entire environmental system, including the surface and underground water flows; topography, animals and plants are changed.
Large amounts of water are retained during the mining process. This means that freshwater can’t flow down-stream, causing salinity increases to the lower Peace River or Charlotte Harbor. While mining companies are required to “reclaim” the land, filling in the mining pits and planting new vegetation, many environmentalists and scientists don’t think the process works particularly well. Whether the ecosystem can truly be restored is debatable. It’s a local environmental and economic risk that’s taken every time a phosphate mining permit is issued from Tallahassee.
Since the land is seldom restored to its original state, water flow and quality continue to decrease after mining is over. In some cases, streams and creeks are left dry or significantly lowered. In other cases, byproducts of the mining can be washed into the water system. This has lasting effects all the way down river into Charlotte Harbor. Salinity levels have increased as fresh water flows dwindle. Phosphorous and nitrogen levels have also been on the rise.
Phosphate mining also releases some of the naturally radioactive material found deep in Florida’s soils. That’s a risk. When reclamation doesn’t work or when revegetation takes a long time, plant and animal communities can be lost or greatly reduced.
Bird
Sometimes, the effects of phosphate mining aren’t detectable — and that is the scariest risk of all. It is one thing to plan for the things we can predict. But our greater concern is about the unintended consequences, the impacts of cumulative effects–the sum total of all the impacts of all the mines–and the things we can’t control that affect the mining company’s ability to manage the environment.
The risk to living things occurs during and following strip mining, and for years to come. That’s why we must have the best possible information before we permit mining companies to move into the Peace River watershed, putting the environment and our drinking water supplies at risk in ways we are only beginning to understand.
PLEASE read and wake UP?
http://www.ourphosphaterisk.com/issues