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Item: Officials with Tampa-based phosphate company Mosaic’s facility in Riverview said earlier this month that an unknown amount of polluted water spilled into Tampa Bay in the wake of Hurricane Milton.
The company said it expected water quality issues, if any, to be “modest.”
Well, gee. THAT sure makes us feel better.
Florida's phosphate mining industry has “a record of contaminating the environment through radioactive waste leakage and water pollution that threatens Florida’s groundwater resources,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The owner of the infamous Piney Point site, HRK Holdings, was just found liable for a 2021 spill that caused a massive fish kill.
Given the environmentally risky nature of the phosphate mining business, it makes sense that the industry would cultivate friends in high places. And it does so, in part, by giving those “friends” lots of money.
Our “Dirty Money Project” tracked industry donations, finding that the company spent $2.7 million on political giving since 2018, and the Florida Phosphate Political Committee — funded largely by Mosaic — gave another $1.8 million.
Among the biggest recipients: The Republican Party of Florida, which got $435,000 since 2018; the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign, which got more than $250,000; Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Empower Parents" PAC, which got $75,000; Florida Sen. Jim Boyd, whose campaign and "Friends of Jim Boyd" PAC got $22,000 since 2018; Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, whose "Friends of Wilton Simpson" PAC got $10,000.
“Generosity” like this helps stave off additional regulation that might help protect our waters. In the wake of the Milton-related spill, Suncoast Waterkeeper Justin Tramble told the Tampa Bay Times: “Every storm, every significant rainfall event we are crossing our fingers that there are no big spills. Something has to change, because that hope isn’t good enough.”
Until we curb the influence of dirty money — hope is the only plan we’ve got.
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