The state has been riveted on the drama unfolding at the Piney Point phosphate mining site near Tampa Bay, but the state is littered with similar facilities, like the one pictured here, that threaten other coastal estuaries. (Photo by Getty Images)
A bill that would provide new legal protections to companies that mine phosphate in Florida and leave behind radioactive spoils buried underneath the ground won unanimous approval during its first committee stop in the Legislature on Wednesday.
The measure (SB 832), sponsored by Tampa Bay Republican Danny Burgess, establishes a defense for phosphate companies from the legal concept of “strict liability” in lawsuits related to pollution on the site of a former phosphate mine.
Strict liability is a concept applied in both civil and criminal law that holds a defendant responsible for their actions regardless of their intent. If this bill were to pass, a plaintiff would have to prove that the phosphate company was negligent to prevail in the action.
Burgess introduced the proposal before the Senate Judiciary Committee by defining it as “incredibly narrowly tailored” compared to a measure he sponsored a year ago that would have restricted lawsuits in pollution cases.
“What it will do is require if a landowner of a former phosphate mine has provided a certain notice and also has conducted a gamma radiation survey then they in fact have a defense against a strict liability claim,” he said.
Specifically, the measure says that upon a petition by a current landowner, the Florida Department of Health shall conduct a gamma radiation survey of a former phosphate land parcel within 120 days to determine the radioactivity levels.
While the measure passed the committee unanimously, Naples Republican Kathleen Passidomo said she was troubled by bill language stating that phosphate mining “is an essential agriculture activity that is necessary for the food security of the nation and this state and that, further, former mined lands are a valuable resource. The highest and best use of former mined lands is in the state’s interest.”
Passidomo judged the language “gratuitous” and asked Burgess why it was included.
“I look at it as some kind of context behind why we were putting a strict liability defense for phosphate mines in this particular case,” he replied.
Passidomo remained somewhat skeptical.
“I don’t believe that there should be strict liability for a former phosphate mine, just because it was a phosphate mine,” she said. “It’s not like a dry cleaners or gas stations.” She added that when the bill comes before the Rules Committee, which she chairs, she wants the language lavishing praise on phosphate mining to be deleted.
Surveys
The measure also says that for individuals or companies who allege discharges of hazardous substances or conditions of pollution related to phosphate mining, the plaintiff must include a radiation survey that meets certain requirements. Such surveys must be prepared by either a health physicist certified by the American Board of Health Physics or a radiation protection technologist by the National Registry by Radiation Protection Technologies.
Andrew Lombardo, who testified before the committee that he is a certified health physicist with more than 40 years of experience in radiation protection, praised the measure, saying the gamma radiation surveys that have been conducted by the Florida Department of Health provide a lot of information. “The more information you have, you’re reducing the uncertainty in making a decision in regard to risk,” he said.
Florida is the largest U.S. source of phosphates, accounting for more than 60% of U.S. production. The majority of the phosphate mining takes place in a Central Florida region of the state known as “Bone Valley,” consisting of Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee, and Manatee counties, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The House version of the legislation (HB 585) is being sponsored by Polk County Republican Jon Albert.