VoteWater's Gil Smart (right) speaks at the SFWMD meeting in Belle Glade last week on the Southland rock mine proposal.

Big Sugar's rock mine gets key DEP permit; but is there a 'public benefit?'

Even as opponents of the Southland rock mine (including VoteWater’s Gil Smart, above) were gathered in Belle Glade last Thursday to speak out on the proposal, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a “Notice of Intent” to issue the project an Environmental Resource Permit.



Once the permit is actually issued, mining can commence on the 8,600 acre site, owned by U.S. Sugar and Okeelanta, parent company of Florida Crystals.

The promised “water resources” public benefit must still undergo intense scrutiny. Last week’s gathering in Belle Glade was the first of three public hearings the South Florida Water Management District must hold on the project. VoteWater’s Smart told the crowd that effective planning begins with identifying a need and then developing a project to address it.

But the Southland rock mine does the reverse — it starts with a predetermined project and reshapes the planning to fit that agenda.

Then there’s the dirty money. As we wrote after the Palm Beach County Commission approved the proposal, five of seven Palm Beach County Commissioners have taken sugar money. In Belle Glade, Smart noted that Southland applicant Phillips & Jordan has given just under $2 million at the state level since January 2024; and in the first quarter of 2025 alone, Big Sugar has lavished just under $700,000 on state politicians, parties and PACs.

That money is designed to move the Southland project along — and it's working.

But this isn't over. VoteWater will continue to oppose it — and we need your help. Please consider a donation to help fund the fight. And we’ll have more info to pass along soon — stay tuned.

Big, beautiful... benefit to Big Sugar

Reconciliation bill looks like another giveaway to the sugar industry

Federal lawmakers still haven’t passed a new, updated Farm Bill. But some agricultural programs look like they’ll be part of President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” — including, you guessed it, the federal Sugar Program.

In fact, Big Sugar could get even bigger if the House version of the reconciliation bill passes. The sugar program supports domestic producers by offering them loans; the House proposal would increase the sugar loan rate from the current 19.75 cents per pound to 25.38 cents per pound. This loan rate acts as a guaranteed minimum price; the terms of the nonrecourse loans dictate that if market prices fall below the loan rate, processors can forfeit the sugar pledged as collateral to the government and satisfy the loan.

It also increases Big Sugar’s bargaining power. Knowing they have a better loan rate as a fallback, producers don’t have to accept lowball offers from buyers. This can lift average market prices since buyers must meet or exceed the loan rate to compete.

All this keeps the price of sugar in the U.S. artificially high — sometimes twice what sugar fetches on the world market. And according to this report by the Government Accountability Office, it costs consumers $2.5 to $3.5 billion a year, while the program gives farmers $1.4 to $2.7 billion in additional benefits they would not get otherwise.

And this, from a bill that’s SUPPOSED to be saving taxpayers money.

Contact your Senators — Rick Scott and Ashley Moody — and tell them to put the brakes on Big Sugar’s sweet deal.

We can't afford dirty water — or dirty politics

Right now, polluters are pouring millions into elections to protect their profits. And too many elected officials are looking the other way while our waterways and communities suffer.

At VoteWater, we're fighting for better leaders who will do more to protect our waters. But we can't do it without your help.

The work is urgent. Polluters aren't waiting — and neither can we. Click a button below to give now.